KIEV, Aug. 4 – Hours after Prime Minister Mykola Azarov questioned coalmine safety, calling for urgent measures to improve the situation, a new methane blast killed one and injured 25 miners in Luhansk on Thursday.

The explosion, at Krasnokutskaya mine, is the third major coalmine accident in Ukraine in less than a week, underscoring the growing concerns.

The blast, which occurred 155 meters deep inside the mine at around 11:40 a.m., forced emergency evacuation of 224 coal miners, the ministry said. The mine was not shut down, which means miners may return back to work as soon as Friday.

The accident comes hours after Azarov has issued the warning that Ukrainian coal mines cannot be trusted as far as safety is concerned, and suggested a major overhaul of the safety system.

“One cannot trust the safety systems at coalmines,” Azarov said in comments released by the government’s press service before the latest blast. “We have to create the united center of coalmine safety.”

Ukraine should create the centralized system of coalmine safety that will monitor hazardous conditions, such as methane, at all mines, Azarov said.

These conditions are currently monitored by each coalmine, but the effectiveness of the existing system has been put into question after two fatal accidents on July 29.

The new plan calls for installing independent coalmine safety equipment deep underground at each mine. Data obtained from the equipment monitoring hazardous conditions is supposed to be electronically sent to the center that will monitor the conditions online.

Azarov said the new system will be discussed at a meeting of the government next week.

He also said that lawmakers will have to approve legislation that would anticipate tougher regulations and punishment for managers for breaking safety rules.

The plans show the level of concern with coalmining safety in Ukraine after two accidents the same day, on July 29, killing 37 miners and injuring six at two separate coalmines.

Twenty six coal miners were killed and two injured after a powerful methane gas explosion had hit the Sukhodolnaya-Vostochnaya mine in the Luhansk region, the Emergency Situations Ministry reported.

The blast, which occurred around 1:57 a.m. Friday about 915 meters deep inside the mine, prompted urgent evacuation of 224 coalminers working in other parts of the mine.

But hours later another accident crippled the Bazhanova coal mine in the Donetsk region, when elevating equipment had collapsed, throwing a bucket with 15 miners in a freefall. Eleven miners were killed and four were seriously injured.

Azarov, after visiting the crippled Bazhanova coalmines on Sunday, said the accident was most likely caused by “negligence.”

Ukrainian coal mines are some of the world’s most dangerous due to the depth of coal extraction - often exceeding 1,000 meters - and due to the abundance of methane gas that comes with the coal deposits in the area, analysts said. Frequent methane gas explosions kill and injure hundreds of coal miners annually. (sb/ez)