The New Nation - Internet Edition

Reuters, Donetsk

Rescue teams battled a tenacious fire in a Ukrainian colliery on Monday as they strove to locate 30 miners missing underground after a methane blast that killed at least 70 miners. Distraught relatives milled about near the entrance of the pit in Donetsk, heart of Ukraine's Donbass coalfield, seeking news of missing miners in what is likely to become the country's deadliest accident since independence from Soviet rule in 1991. One of 28 miners in hospital remained in serious condition. "The situation has become worse," Andriy Klyuyev, head of a commission of inquiry, told reporters. "The temperature has risen. But rescue work is proceeding. There are always chances for a rescue t If we put the fire out, we will finish matters today." But trade union officials have said since Sunday's explosion 1,250 meters (3,800 feet) underground at the Zasyadko mine that there is little chance of finding survivors among the missing.