"Twenty one men have been located alive," she said.
The explosion occurred 1,000 meters (3,280 ft) underground at the Karl Marx mine in the town of Yenakiyevo in the Donetsk Region early on Sunday morning. One miner was killed in the blast, and 13 are still missing. The powerful explosion shattered windows in neighboring buildings and injured four people on the surface.
Work at the mine was suspended several days before the accident following breaches of safety regulations. The miners were carrying out maintenance work to improve safety conditions when the blast occurred.
Another seven miners were killed at the state-run mine in an accident in 1999.
Ukrainian mines are considered extremely dangerous due to the use of obsolete equipment and numerous safety violations. According to press reports, nearly 5,000 miners have died in Ukraine since 1991.
