DONETSK, UKRAINE // At least 32 miners were feared dead on Wednesday following a blast at a coal mine in a rebel-held city of Donetsk.
The chairman of Ukraine’s parliament, Volodymyr Groysman, initially said “there are victims, currently numbering 32”.
He later cast doubt on the fate of the miners, telling MPs that “according to the latest information” 32 miners were unaccounted for, but that only one was confirmed killed.
The blast took place at Zasyadko mine in the separatist hub of Donetsk, near the city’s war-wrecked airport.
However, Mykola Volynko, head of the Miners’ Union of Donbass, which covers the eastern region, confirmed the death toll.
“At the moment we know of 32 people dead. We don’t know how many people are still in the mine,” he said.
A spokesman for the Trade Union of Coal Miners in Ukraine said that two bodies had been brought to the surface so far.
Rescue workers were trying to locate a further approximately 45 miners who had “practically zero” chances of survival, said the spokesman .
A spokeswoman for the ministry of emergency situations of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic said “there are still 70 people” trapped in the shaft.
Donetsk has been the focus of a nearly year-long conflict between government forces and pro-Russian rebels.
The accident comes nearly three weeks into a ceasefire deal. Rebels overran the town of Debaltseve in the wake of the ceasefire, but the truce since then has largely held.
Ukrainian prime minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk sent rescue teams to the scene, but the rebels “did not allow Ukrainian rescue teams to reach the site”, he said.
President Petro Poroshenko sent his condolences to the families of the perished miners and demanded that the rebels give Kiev-loyal authorities access to the site.
The facility has been caught in crossfire between the rebels and government forces on several occasions. On one occasion, miners were trapped inside after shelling knocked out its power supply.
The accident comes as the warring parties claim to be pulling back their artillery in line with the February truce.
Ukraine’s army said on Wednesday it was pulling back 152-calibre howitzers, the “second stage” in the accord.
* Agence France-Presse
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
Company profile
Name: Tratok Portal
Founded: 2017
Based: UAE
Sector: Travel & tourism
Size: 36 employees
Funding: Privately funded
Bahrain%20GP
%3Cp%3EFriday%20qualifying%3A%207pm%20(8pm%20UAE)%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3ESaturday%20race%3A%207pm%20(UAE)%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3ETV%3A%20BeIN%20Sports%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
THE SPECS
Engine: 1.5-litre turbocharged four-cylinder
Transmission: Constant Variable (CVT)
Power: 141bhp
Torque: 250Nm
Price: Dh64,500
On sale: Now
ZIMBABWE V UAE, ODI SERIES
All matches at the Harare Sports Club:
1st ODI, Wednesday - Zimbabwe won by 7 wickets
2nd ODI, Friday, April 12
3rd ODI, Sunday, April 14
4th ODI, Tuesday, April 16
UAE squad: Mohammed Naveed (captain), Rohan Mustafa, Ashfaq Ahmed, Shaiman Anwar, Mohammed Usman, CP Rizwan, Chirag Suri, Mohammed Boota, Ghulam Shabber, Sultan Ahmed, Imran Haider, Amir Hayat, Zahoor Khan, Qadeer Ahmed
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013