Death toll rises to 18 in Ukrainian mine blast

The number of people killed in Sukhodilska-Vostochnaya Mine blast in Ukraine’s Luhansk Region has reached 18, the regional Emergencies Ministry said on Saturday. “As of 07:00 a.m. (08:00 a.m. Moscow time) July 30, 18 people have died, two injured, while 8 people are still missing,” the ministry said in a statement. The blast occurred at the Sukhodilska-Vostochnaya Mine operated by Metinvest, Ukraine's largest steel producer, on Friday at 01:57 a.m. (02:57 a.m. Moscow time). The mine’s overall staff amounted to 28 miners. Mining accidents are frequent in Ukraine. In 2007, more than 100 miners died in a blast at a mine near Donetsk, in the east of the former Soviet republic.