The World - News from Jan. 11, 1987

A Soviet commission investigating a fatal coal mine explosion in the Ukraine last month blamed the disaster on carelessness and said five mine officials were expelled from the Communist Party as a result. The commission’s report, carried by the Soviet media, said eight other people are under investigation in connection with the Dec. 24 blast in the Donbass coal region. No exact casualty figures have been released. The report cited “the low level of production and technological discipline among engineers, technicians and workers of the mine who permitted the violation of safety standards.”