NINE KILLED IN UKRAINIAN MINE BLAST

A methane gas explosion killed nine people and injured about 15 others in a coal mine in Ukraine's Donetsk region on Sunday, news reports say. A total of 59 miners were working about 2,460 feet underground at the Krasnolimanskaya mine in the town of Krasnoarmeisk at the time, says a spokesman for a militarized mining rescue service in Donetsk. Elsewhere, three miners who were trapped underground late Friday by a coal layer collapse in the Luhansk region were rescued Saturday, the Interfax news agency reported. They were reported to be in a satisfactory condition. Ukraine's mines, which are considered among the world's most dangerous, cannot maintain proper safety conditions or modernize equipment due to insufficient funds and cuts in subsidies. At least 18 miners have been killed so far this year in Ukraine. Last year, 318 deaths were reported in mining accidents, including 81 who were died in a methane gas explosion at the Barakova mine in the town of Krasnodon in March.