Eight miners killed in methane explosion in western Ukraine

At least eight miners have reportedly been killed in a methane gas explosion that took place at a coal mine in Lvov region of western Ukraine, local media reports said.

According to local authorities, there were 172 miners at the site when the blast occurred.

"There is a disaster at Stepnaya. Methane explosion. 11 dead," Russia Today quoted the head of the independent miners union of Ukraine Mihaylo Volinets as saying in a Facebook post.