The Chinese explosion took place at Zhafei coal mine, owned by Changguang Colliery Company in east China's Zhejiang Province. Six miners who were working underground were buried but two were later brought to safety and sent to hospital for medical treatment. Four others were killed.

Five Ukraine miners were killed when a methane gas explosion ripped through the Lesnaya coal mine in the western Lviv region, with three seriously injured.

Some 56 miners were working 550m underground at the time of the explosion. Ukrainian prosecutors have launched an investigation into the accident.

Since the 1991 Soviet collapse, nearly 4300 miners have died in Ukrainian coal mines, considered among the world’s most dangerous.