Fire traps workers at Ukrainian coal mine

26 Dec, 2007 08:05 / Updated 16 years ago

A major fire has broken out at a coal mine in the city of Rodinskoe in Ukraine's Donetsk region. It started Wednesday morning, when more than 850 miners were underground, according to reports.

An evacuation is now under way. A rescue team is thought to already have been inside the mine. Ukraine has been hit by a series of mine disasters this year, including a blast at the Zasyadko mine, also in the Donetsk region, which killed at least 100 people.