2024-07-12 03:53:17
CTK
Updated 9 hours ago
76 of the 78 miners who were underground at the time have been rescued from the Rydultowy coal mine in Poland, which was hit by a strong tremor at a depth of 1,200 meters on Thursday morning. One did not survive the accident, the search for the other is underway, said representatives of the mine’s owner, which is the mining company Polska Grupa Górnicza. The mine is located near the border with the Czech Republic. The first information spoke of 68 miners underground.
“We have located one of the two missing miners, work to locate the other continues,” said production director Damien Borgiel, according to TVN 24 television. The director pointed out that the rescue operation is taking place in difficult conditions, with the highest degree of danger from methane and possible collapse.
Later, the owner of the mine announced that one miner did not survive the accident and that they are still looking for the other.
11 rescue teams are involved in the search, Reuters added.
Of the 76 evacuated miners, 17 were injured. The most seriously injured miner was transported to the nearest hospital by helicopter, the others were transported by ambulances, the Onet server wrote. According to him, the difficulties with counting miners also stem from the fact that previously several separate mines were merged into one in 2016.
According to a PGG spokesperson, the tremor occurred after 8:00 a.m. at a depth of approximately 1.2 kilometers. Spokeswoman Aleksandra Wysocká-Siembigová ruled out a methane explosion. “There was a strong tremor… The rescue operation continues. There are injured people, they are being pulled out,” a dispatcher from the mining office told Polish news agency PAP.
The Rydultowy mine is one of the oldest coal mines in Upper Silesia, TVN24 noted. It has been in operation since 1792 and currently employs over 2,000 miners. Mining in it is planned until 2043. It has already had a mining accident in the past, in 2020 a 46-year-old miner died due to the release of rock from the mine ceiling, and a year earlier a 44-year-old mine worker died in an earthquake, writes the Onet server.
Poland, which is largely dependent on coal for energy, has experienced several mining disasters in recent years. For example, this May, three miners lost their lives in an earthquake at the Myslowice-Wesola mine in southern Poland.