KIEV, March 2 - Eight Ukrainian coal miners were killed and 14 miners were injured on Thursday after an explosion ripped through a coal mine in Lviv region on the border with the European Union, the emergency situations ministry reported.

The methane explosion occurred around 12:46 PM local time about 550 meters deep inside the Stepova coalmine, which produces thermal coal. There were 34 coal miners working in a shift at the mine when the accident happened, but only 26 miners had been rescued, the ministry said.