June 8 (Reuters) - A gas explosion at a colliery in Ukraine's Donbass coalfield on Sunday left 37 miners missing and destroyed the main shaft, making rescue attempts difficult, officials said.

Gas explosions are frequent in Ukraine's outdated mines. The Karl Marx mine in Yenakiyevo northeast of Donetsk, where the latest blast occurred, has been in operation for 110 years.

The following is a summary of the worst mine explosions in Ukraine's post-Soviet history:

* June 1992 - A methane blast kills 58 miners at the Sukhodolskaya-Vostochnaya mine in the Luhansk region.

* September 1994 - A blast kills 30 miners at the Slavyano-Serbskaya mine, also in the Luhansk region.

* April 1998 - An explosion kills 63 miners at the Skochynsky mine in the Donetsk region.

* May 1999 - A blast kills 50 at Zasyadko mine.

* March 2000 - A combination of a methane blast and coal dust kills 80 miners at the Barakov mine in the Luhansk region.

* August 2001 - A methane explosion kills 54 miners at the Zasyadko mine in Donetsk.

* November 2007 -- Three explosions in two weeks kill 106 men at the Zasyadko mine.

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