Lviv mine where miners died was not repaired for 10 years

The reason for accident at the “Stepova” coal mine in Sokal district, Lviv region, during which eight miners died, could be obsolete equipment, which has not been modernized for a long time.

As reported by Vitaly Onizhuk, Chairman of regional organization of the Independent Trade Union of Miners of Ukraine, in commentary to the Human Rights Information Centre.

“There was an explosion of methane gas and the reason for this is improper mine equipment”, – he said.

According to the trade unionists, “Stepova” mine is one of the most profitable among “LvivVugillya” (Lviv Coal) state enterprise mines and at the same time is one of the most dangerous because of the large amounts of methane.    Methane is greenhouse gas and is released during extraction and processing of coal. At the time of explosion miners were working in the mining lava at a depth of 550 meters and, as Onizhuk suggests, there was a big leak of methane, the pump has not kept pace and slightest spark was sufficient to cause the explosion.

He also noted that the mine has not been modernized in the past 10 years and there, there are problems with providing miners with personal protective equipment and compliance with the safety requirements at all “LvivVugillya” mines.

At the same time, on March 2, Volodymyr Groysman, Prime Minister of Ukraine, during a briefing at “Stepova” mine said that preliminary cause of explosion was combustion of air-methane mixture, but “corresponding sensors failed to signal”. A special committee will investigate why and how this happened.

In turn, Myhaylo Volinets, the Head of the Confederation of Free Trade Unions of Ukraine, reported that 8 people died as a result of the incident. Among them there were 5 members of the Independent Trade Union of Miners of Ukraine.

The youngest miner who died was 19 years old and the oldest – 42 years. Among the dead there are deputy manager of a site, mine foreman, and miner of 1977 year of birth from a miner’s dynasty.

In Ukraine March 3 is declared a day of mourning for the miners who tragically died as a result of accident at the “Stepova” mine.

As reported by the Governmental web-site, on Friday, Cabinet of Ministers will form a state committee for the examination of all country’s coal mining companies for compliance with industrial safety standards. Conclusions “regarding responsibility of all involved, without exceptions” will be made based on the results of committee’s work. 200 million hryvnias will be allocated for personal protective equipment for miners.

According to Groysman, in 2017, 1.8 billion hryvnias were allocated for the modernization and financing of mines.

Assistance payments of about 600-700 thousand hryvnias will be given to 8 families of miners who died in the “Stepova” mine.

After a visit to the mine, Prime Minister visited the injured miners at a hospital and expressed his readiness to assist in transporting victims to Kyiv in case of need.

As a reminder, on March 2, explosion happened at the “Stepova” mine of the “LvivVugillya” state enterprise in Hluhiv, Lviv region. 8 miners died, 20 more received various injuries and burns, two of them are in critical condition.