( Reuters ) - President Viktor Yushchenko on Monday called for the closure of a colliery in eastern Ukraine while an investigation is carried out into three explosions which have killed 106 men in two weeks.
Acting Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich, the president's longstanding rival, was at the Zasyadko mine in Donetsk conferring with experts on the latest explosion, which killed five men and injured 66.
The first of the three methane blasts at the mine two weeks ago killed 101 miners in Ukraine's worst mining accident. The pit has been hit by four major accidents since 2001.
"In connection with the latest accident at the Zasyadko mine, which has caused casualties, I insist the mine be completely closed until all circumstances and reasons for the tragdies ... is determined," Yushchenko said in a statement.
The presidential Internet site said the statement had been sent to Yanukovich, who was chairing a session of the commission of inquiry in Donetsk, in the heart of the Donbass coalfield, into the series of explosions.
Ukraine's mining inspectorate said the five men died on Sunday evening in the same area as earlier blasts, more than 1 km beneath the surface, during clean-up operations by maintenance teams and miners.
All mining has been halted in the affected part of the pit, which extends over a large area.
Sixty-six men were in hospital after the latest explosion -- half of them maintenance workers, half miners.
An explosion struck the same section on Saturday morning. More than 60 men were taken to the surface, and more than 40 required hospital treatment.
Several dozen miners remain in hospital after the blast on Nov. 18. Fires are still burning in the stricken section of the mine and about 10 bodies have still to be recovered.
A commission of inquiry has been examining safety issues and operations at the mine since the first blast and had been due this week to consider assigning some miners to other jobs.
Zasyadko is described by industry officials as one of the most technically advanced and profitable mines in Ukraine. But experts say the practice of extracting coal from seams far below the surface increases the risk of methane explosions.
Deadly accidents regularly strike Ukraine's collieries, many of which date from the 19th century. This year's death toll in the industry, in Donetsk region alone, stands at about 200.