DONETSK, Ukraine (Reuters) - Rescue teams battled a tough fire in a Ukrainian colliery on Monday as they strove to locate 28 miners missing underground after a methane blast that killed at least 72 others.
Distraught relatives awaiting news of missing miners more than 24 hours after the accident pushed their way into the office of the director to confront officials and demand information on rescue efforts and possible survivors.
President Viktor Yushchenko toured the Zasyadko pit in Donetsk, heart of Ukraine's Donbass coalfield, and chaired a session of a commission investigating the disaster's causes.
In a statement he praised the contribution of the coal industry to the country's economy, but added: "I would not want these high aims achieved at the cost of human casualties."
On Sunday, Yushchenko said the government of his longstanding rival, Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich, had failed to reorganise the mining sector and improve its safety record. Yanukovich visited the mine in his native region on Sunday.
The explosion is one of the country's deadliest accidents since independence from Soviet rule in 1991.
Twenty-eight miners remained in hospital, one in serious condition, according to the latest figures provided by Deputy Prime Minister Andriy Klyuyev.
"The situation has become worse," Klyuyev, who heads the commission of inquiry, told reporters.
"The temperature has risen. But rescue work is proceeding. There are always chances for a rescue ... If we put the fire out, we will finish matters today."
LITTLE CHANCE FOR SURVIVORS
But trade union officials have said since Sunday's explosion 1,250 metres (3,800 feet) underground at the Zasyadko mine that there is little chance of finding survivors among the missing.
