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Donetsk: Rescue workers on Monday found 23 of the 37 miners trapped in a Ukrainian coalfield following a gas explosion at Ukraine's Donbass coalfield on Sunday.
Rescuers are currently searching for the other 13 missing hundreds of metres underground. The explosion destroyed the mine shaft, making rescue efforts difficult, officials said.
"The shaft has been destroyed. It is impossible to go below," said Marina Nikitina, a spokeswoman for the regional mine safety inspectorate.
However, a narrow shaft was being used to bring up the trapped miners, which is why the process is taking several hours, officials said.
Nikitina said four miners working on the surface at the time of the explosion had been injured.
"The blast was very powerful. It shattered windows in the mine's administrative office and damaged the panelling of a lift," she said.
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