MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Thursday, March 5, has been declared a day of mourning for those who died in the explosion in the Zasyadko coal mine in Ukraine, a spokesperson for Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has announced.
"March 5 has been announced a day of mourning for those who died in the Zasyadko mine, by presidential decree," Svyatoslav Tsegolko wrote in his Twitter blog.
An explosion apparently sparked by methane gas occurred in the Zasyadko mine, one of Ukraine's largest, on Wednesday morning. The coal mine is located in the Donetsk region.
The Emergencies Ministry of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) announced on Wednesday that the death toll from the coal mine accident was standing at 24.
According to DPR authorities, 230 workers were in the Zasyadko mine when the blast occurred; 157 people have since been raised to the surface.
Numerous accidents have happened at the Zasyadko mine in recent years. More than 100 workers were killed in a methane explosion in the coal mine in 2007.
Since the launch of a Kiev military operation against independence supporters in Ukraine's southeast last spring, the Zasyadko mine has been repeatedly shelled and the miners have had to be evacuated multiple times.
