The expert government commission that has been inquiring into the Ukrayina Coal Mine accident in Donetsk oblast has come to the tentative conclusion that the massive death of people was caused by “wrongful actions of the mine’s executives in charge of accident control,” Interfax- Ukraine reports. Such actions, the conclusion says, “consisted in failure to observe the existing safety regulations as far rescuing people from the mine is concerned.” Thus, this time there are real grounds to bring guilty of the accident to personal account.
According to investigation results, the accident at the Ukrayina Mine belonging to the Selidovvuhillia state holding company occurred in a 570 meter deep tunnel near the end head of a conveyer belt. The immediate cause of the fire was “intensive functional friction of the conveyor belt with the slowly-rotating end drum.” The commission also notes that what further contributed to the fire was the absence of the fire-extinguishing equipment and of systematic control over the performance of the conveyer belt. The miners were not brought to the surface on time, which resulted in 35 people dying from carbon monoxide poisoning.
Following the investigation of the accident, the commission has worked out measures to avert new accidents of this kind. First of all, according to the commission members, the fire safety system and conveyer tunnels of mines must be brought into line with the Coal Mine Safety Regulations and other normative instruments. In addition, experts urge that all underground personnel be retrained in how to use individual rescue apparatuses and act in an emergency.
