Fourth Victim's Body Recovered From Collapsed Mine In Luhansk - Emergency Services

The fourth victim's body has been recovered from the collapsed Skhidkarbon coal mine in the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic (LPR), while the fate of another 13 people is unclear, the local emergency services said Friday

LUHANSK (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 26th April, 2019) The fourth victim's body has been recovered from the collapsed Skhidkarbon coal mine in the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic (LPR), while the fate of another 13 people is unclear, the local emergency services said Friday.

Previous reports indicated three dead and 14 missing.

"As of 12:00 a.m. [09:00 GMT] the fourth casualty was recovered from under the rubble from the first board gate with no signs of life. The body was brouigh to the surface, examined by forensic scientists and transferred to the morgue," Emergencies Minister Evgeniy Katsavalov said.

The republic's head, Leonid Pasechnik, confirmed that the incident was a methane explosion.

Russian rescue services have arrived to the scene of the incident, the Russian Emergencies Ministry's press service told Sputnik.

"The rescuers are responding to the emergency situation at the Luhansk mine," the press service said.

The Skhidkarbon mine is located in the town of Yuriyevka, some 11 miles from the center of the republic's capital, Luhansk. The production on the site was halted during years of Kiev's crackdown on the region. The operations were resumed in January 2018.