KIEV, Dec. 17 - Closing down a Ukrainian coal mine that has been the scene of three deadly accidents in the past few weeks would lead to an explosive accumulation of methane under the city near which it is situated, the chairman of the mine lessee board said in an interview published in a newspaper on Dec. 15.

On Nov. 18, the Zasiadko mine near Donetsk became the site of the worst coal mine accident in post-Soviet Ukraine. A methane explosion claimed 101 lives. Ten bodies remain inside the mine.