ANDRIA HALL, CNN ANCHOR: Nearly 100 families, they are coping with tragedy, the result of a deadly blast in a Ukraine coal mine. Eighty people were killed and seven others injured when methane gas exploded in the mine near Sukhodolsk, about 200 miles east of Kiev. CNN's Steve Harrigan has more now on the blast.</s>STEVE HARRIGAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): More than 200 men were underground when a methane gas explosion ripped through a coal mine in Ukraine. At least 80 were killed in one of the worst mining disasters in the country's history. The blast happened just after lunch break on Saturday, about 600 meters, or 2,000 feet, underneath the surface, in the Lugansk region of Eastern Ukraine. More than 30 rescue teams joined the search for survivors. Seven badly burned miners were taken to local hospitals. The Ukrainian president, Leonid Kuchma, postponed a scheduled trip to Poland to fly to the scene of the explosion. Ukraine has the world's highest coal industry death rate, due in part to outdated equipment and poorly ventilated mines. Methane is an odorless gas that occurs naturally in coal mines. A similar explosion in the same region killed 50 miners one year ago. Steve Harrigan, CNN, Moscow.
Ukraine Coal Mine Blast Kills 80