KIEV, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- The death toll in a coal mine blast in eastern Ukraine has climbed to 33 while the fate of 77 others is nuclear, an Ukrainian official said on Sunday.

    The blast, caused by a methane explosion, took place at 3:11 a.m. local time (0111 GMT) at the Zasyadko coalmine in Donetsk, the main town of Ukraine's eastern coal-rich region.

    The Ukraine's Emergency Situations Ministry on its Web site said earlier that 457 miners were working underground when the blast hit at a depth of 1,078 meters. 297 miners have already been lifted to the surface while 160 others were still trapped.

    Sunday's blast was the second mine accident to hit the Donetsk region in two days. A miner was killed on Saturday by falling rocks in another coalmine in the region.

    Last September, an explosion killed 13 miners and injured 61 others at the Zasyadko coalmine.