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However at least a dozen other workers remained trapped, and officials cautioned that salvage teams already discovered the body of one dead miner.
The rescue work has been coordinated by Deputy Prime Minister Oleksandr Turchynov, an evangelical Christian who apparently skipped preaching at a Baptist church to rush to the scene of the disaster. "There were voices heard, we remain hopeful that we will find more survivors," he said.
DISTRAUGHT FAMILY
It came as distraught family members anxiously awaited news of rescue efforts. "I am waiting for my son. I have waited for so many hours. I have no more strength to wait," said one crying woman. "They keep telling us to wait one more hour. One more hour. How many more hours can we wait. Nobody does anything and my son is waiting there somewhere below. And maybe he is dead."
A miner also expressed his frustration about working conditions at the mine, where operations had been suspended so workers could improve safety standards. "I feel no one needs me," said one miner. "Just like nobody needs the people who died here."
Eleven miners were killed in a mine explosion in the same area two weeks ago. Three blasts at the Zasyadko mine in Donetsk late last year killed 106 men in two weeks. More than 4,800 mine workers have died since the collapse of the Soviet Union, making Ukraine’s mine industry one of the most dangerous in the world.
The government has begun closing mines amid mounting concerns about the number of fatalities. (Parts of this BosNewsLife News story also airs on the Voice of America (VOA) network via www.voanews.com Bos NewsLife NEWS WATCH is a regular look at stories impacting the Church and/or compassionate proffesionals).
