Blast rips through coal mine, killing at least 3, 100 missing

KIEV, Ukraine -- A methane gas explosion tore through a Ukrainian coal mine Sunday, killing at least six miners and leaving more than 28 missing, officials said.

Rescuers found three bodies after the blast at the Yuvileina mine in Pershotravensk, in Ukraine's eastern Dnipropetrovsk region, said Ihor Krol, an official at the Emergency Situations Ministry. Over the next several hours, they brought 392 workers out of the mine, including three who died later of injuries or smoke inhalation.

Six miners remained hospitalized, including four in serious condition, Krol said. He said 100 rescue workers were working looking for the 28 missing miners.

The explosion came just two weeks after a fire in the Ukraina coal mine in nearby Donetsk region killed 35 coal workers and injured 12.

Ukraine's largely unprofitable mines have one of the world's highest accident rates blamed on poor maintenance and neglect of safety regulations. More than 3,700 miners have been killed in job-related accidents in Ukraine since 1991.

Miners in Ukraine often go months without pay. Last week, hundreds of coal workers blocked traffic in the capital, Kiev, to demand the government -- which subsidizes the industry and owns some mines directly -- pay $230 million in back wages.