Rescuers struggled with flames and fallen rock in trying to reach 23 miners trapped in a coal mine Monday, a day after a methane blast killed at least 77 others in one of Ukraine's deadliest mining disasters of the post-Soviet era. Nearly 360 miners at the massive Zasyadko mine scrambled to the surface after Sunday's blast, which occurred at a depth of about 3,300 feet. One survivor described clambering over the bodies of his co-workers strewn along an underground rail track and navigating through blinding dust to escape.The hunt for survivors was still under way Monday but rescuers were battling a stubborn fire blocking their path to the tunnel where the missing were believed trapped, emergency officials said.
Flags flew at half-staff in this industrial city in eastern Ukraine, the heart of the former Soviet republic's coal country.
Dozens of weeping relatives gathered at the mine's Soviet-era headquarters, many breaking into sobs as officials announced the names of workers found dead.
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