Day of mourning to mark east Ukraine mine disaster
Most of the bodies have been brought to the surface for identification
DONETSK (AFP) - Ukraine on Thursday observed a day of mourning after 32 miners died in a blast in a notoriously dangerous mine just a few kilometres from the frontline, where Kiev has reported an increase in attacks by pro-Russian separatists.
Rescuers found the bodies of 32 miners in the Zasyadko mine, with one person still unaccounted for, a day after a blast ripped through the shaft, emergency officials of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People s Republic said.
Most of the bodies have been brought to the surface for identification, while survivors were being treated in hospital for burns and gas poisoning.
The Zasyadko mine is located on the outskirts of rebel hub Donetsk not far from the frontline of the conflict between the pro-Russian separatists and Kiev s forces.
Despite the conflict, the mine had remained in operation.
"Security norms are not respected. They force them to extract without pause to have results and round numbers," one tearful woman whose husband died in the mine told AFP, refusing to give her name.
International monitors have reported sporadic heavy fire in the area of the Donetsk airport nearby despite the EU-mediated ceasefire struck on February 12 aiming to end 11 months of violence that has killed over 6,000 people.
Kiev s security spokesmen said that sporadic attacks on its positions killed one Ukrainian soldier since Wednesday, and a civilian working for the emergency services was killed by shelling in Avdiyivka, a village west of Donetsk.
Donetsk region prosecutors have launched a probe into the possible violation of safety precautions at the mine, but conceded that an investigation would be impossible as the mine is under the control of pro-Russian separatists.
Rebel prosecutors said they had launched a probe of their own.
- Day of mourning -
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Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko had decreed that Thursday would be a nationwide day of mourning, ordering the Ukrainian flag flown at half-mast and cancelling entertainment events.
The parliament at midday observed a minute s silence, while in Donetsk, a piece of black fabric was tied to the flagpost by the entrance to the mine s headquarters.
Access to the mine was closed off by the rebels Thursday morning, and psychologists at the scene were trying to comfort two women convinced that their miner husbands have died.
"We are trying to calm them down. We say that perhaps their husbands are still alive even though they don t believe it," said Oksana, one of the psychologists.
- Equipment withdrawal -
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Kiev and rebels both report withdrawing equipment from the frontline as per the ceasefire agreement.
However, international monitors say they need greater access and more information to verify the pullback, and Poroshenko discussed expanding their mandate with EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini.
The two agreed that "the mandate of the OSCE must be expanded immediately" and the mission s technical capacities boosted, the Ukrainian presidency said.
On Thursday Kiev announced it was starting to pull back the notorious Grad rocket launchers as part of the next stage of the withdrawal spelt out in the deal struck in Minsk.
Britain and other Western countries are watching for signs of another major flare-up in violence, reserving the possibility to increase sanctions against Russia. The United States has also been considering arming Kiev forces.
British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond met with Ukrainian counterpart Pavlo Klimkin in Kiev on Thursday, stressing that EU nations and the United States should "stand together" in pressing Russia to ensure "full implementation" of the ceasefire deal.
US Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken is set to arrive Friday to show "steadfast support for Ukraine in the face of continuing Russian aggression."
Kiev and the West accuse Russia of being the perpetrator of the insurgency, but Moscow denies sending troops across the border despite numerous accounts of Russian soldiers.
Despite assuring compliance with the ceasefire, Kiev is taking steps to prepare for a potential future resumption of violence, with the parliament on Thursday approving an increase of the military to 250,000 troops from the current 235,000.
