A methane gas explosion at a mine in eastern Ukraine has left six people dead - the second major accident at a Ukrainian pit in two weeks.

Fourteen others were injured in the blast at the Yubileinaya mine in Dnipropetrovsk region - some seriously, officials said.

The explosion comes just two weeks after a fire at another mine in the east of the country left 35 miners dead.

Poor working conditions and lack of capital investment are blamed for the frequent accidents at the country's mines.

Hundreds of miners protested in the capital Kiev last week about poor safety and working conditions in the ageing and deep coal pits.

Poor record

"Six were killed, four of those were crushed to death and two died from carbon monoxide poisoning. Fourteen have various degrees of burns and four of them are in a serious condition. Everyone has been brought up now", a spokesman at the Emergencies Ministry in Ukraine told Reuters news agency.

He said a special commission would be set up to to investigate the blast, which left dozens trapped.

Ukraine's pits are the world's most dangerous, the World Bank says

Hundreds of thousands of miners work in about 200 pits in Ukraine concentrated mostly in the eastern Donbass area.

Last year, more than 300 people died in mining accidents in the country.

The number of miners killed in industrial accidents in the past 10 years is put at more than 3,700.

On 7 July, 35 miners died and 12 others were injured in a fire at the Ukraina pit in Ukrainsk.

Three senior managers at the mine were arrested over the incident, accused of violating safety rules.