Accident in Zasyadko coal mine

A girl cries above the coffin of her father, killed during the methane blast in Zasyadko coal mine, during a funeral ceremony in eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk, on Wednesday, May 26, 1999. Ukraine's leaders, coal officials and thousands of relatives and comrades buried some of the 39 miners killed in a terrifying underground methane explosion. Ukraine's president Leonid Kuchma announces a nationwide day of mourning on Wednesday. The mine disaster in eastern Ukraine underscored safety and financial problems faced by the country's coal industry. Deadly accidents are a frequent occurrence at Ukrainian mines and most miners are rarely paid on time and in full. UNIAN Photo