Kiev, Sep 20 (DPA) Eleven Ukrainian miners died Wednesday in a coal mine explosion, the Interfax news agency reported.

The accident took place in a shaft in the eastern Donetsk region.

A total of 43 miners were believed to have been initially trapped by the early morning blast, officials from Ukraine's Ministry of Emergency Situations (MSE) said.

Sixteen miners were hospitalised for blast injuries. The whereabouts of two miners was unknown.

MSE officials said combustion of a mixture of coal dust and methane gas in the air of the shaft was the likely cause of the blast.

Poorly-enforced safety standards in dangerously deep shafts are often the cause of Ukraine mine accidents. Ukraine's worst-ever mine accident took place in 2000, a methane explosion killing 80 workers.