By Lina Kushch
DONETSK, Ukraine (Reuters) - A methane explosion ripped through a mine in Ukraine's Donbass coalfield on Sunday, killing at least 63 miners and leaving 37 missing in underground shafts engulfed by fire and smoke.
A trade union official said there was only a small chance the missing would be found alive after the blast more than 1,000 meters (3,300 feet) underground at Zasyadko mine in Donetsk.
The figures issued by Ukraine's Emergencies Ministry put the accident among the most serious since Ukraine won independence from Soviet rule in 1991. Post-Soviet Ukraine's most deadly mining accident was in March 2000, when 80 miners were killed in an explosion at a coal mine near the eastern town of Luhansk.
Other industrial sectors in Ukraine have also been plagued by accidents causing loss of life or damage.
Relatives wept, and some women screamed uncontrollably, as officials read out lists of the dead at the mine headquarters.
"I've come here to collect my grandson," said one despondent woman in her sixties. "I accompanied him to work yesterday. Now I want to take him home."
Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich flew to Donetsk, his native region, to assess the latest of a long series of accidents in Donbass's outdated mines. He said a fire was still burning unchecked several hours after the blast.
"There is a blockage at the accident site formed by a cave-in, airshafts and water channels," Yanukovich, dressed in black, said after a meeting of a commission of inquiry. Continued...
An explosion in a coal mine has killed at least 80 people in the city of Donetsk, Ukraine, while 20 people are reported missing.

According to reports transmitted by the local press and the Emergency Situations Department, 360 miners managed to get to the surface safely; 28 others are currently hospitalized, some with severe burns.

The Zasyadko mine is nearly 1,000 meters deep, and 457 people were in the mine when the explosion occurred at 3:11 am.

The cause of the explosion is still unknown. Initial reports suggest that the explosion was caused by methane mixing with the air in the mine.

During the afternoon, more than thirty rescue teams were found at the scene, wearing hard hats and oxygen tanks as they prepared to enter the mine.

Relatives of the victims gathered around the entrance to the mine, awaiting news of their loved ones. Officials read the names of those confirmed as dead.

The Prime Minister of Ukraine, Viktor Yanukovych, responded to the scene; the president of the country, Viktor Yushchenko, will visit the area this Monday.  

"I am grieving with all of Ukraine", declared the Ukrainian head of state. He also criticized the government, saying that the mining industry has been a victim of "insufficient efforts".

With obsolete installations and poor construction, Ukraine has been a victim of various mining accidents in the past. According to union estimations, between 2006 and 2007 nearly 250 miners died in accidents.