KIEV, Ukraine (AP) - A methane gas explosion killed eight workers in a mine in eastern Ukraine, the deadliest accident to strike the country's ramshackle coal industry this year, officials said Sunday. Two people were missing.

The blast occurred Saturday evening at the Kirov mine in the coal-rich Donetsk region, the Emergency Situations Ministry said. Of the 151 miners working underground at the time, 141 were brought safely to the surface.

Three other miners died Saturday at three separate coal mines in the Donetsk and nearby Luhansk regions, all as a result of violations of safety rules, the ministry said.

It said one miner was electrocuted, another was crushed by a coal combine and the third fatally wounded by a conveyor belt. Ukraine's coal mines are among the world's most dangerous.

About 90 coal workers have died in accidents this year, down from more than 160 over the same period in 2000. An explosion in March 2000 killed 81 workers at a mine in eastern Ukraine.

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7 Killed in Ukraine Mine Explosion (May 6)

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