A methane gas explosion at a coal mine operated by state-run mining firm OKD in the northeast of the Czech Republic has killed 13 miners, including 12 Polish nationals and one Czech.
The accident is the worst mining disaster to take place in the country since 1990, when a fire at a mine near Karvina in the same region claimed 30 lives, according to Czech national news agency CTK.
The methane blast is said to have occurred more than 800m below the surface. Following the explosion, areas of the CSM hard coal mine near the town of Karvina, near the Polish border, were the most affected.
Reuters quoted OKD spokesman Ivo Celechovsky as saying on Czech public television: “We stopped underground work immediately, evacuated miners to the surface, and rescuers arrived who inspected the whole location thoroughly.”
According to CTK, a further ten workers were injured in the accident.
OKD managing director Boleslav Kowalczyk stated that search and rescue efforts had to be suspended due to poor visibility.
Kowalczyk said: “Unfortunately, we have reached a point where it was impossible to move forward, because there was a fire raging and zero visibility.”
Meanwhile, Celechovsky told Xinhua that there is the likelihood of another explosion at the site due to extremely high concentrations of methane and oxygen. As a result, the company will seal off the affected portion of the mine.
OKD produces hard coal from its mining operations in the southern part of the Upper-Silesian Coal Basin in the Ostrava-Karviná coal district.
The company focuses on the exploitation of high-quality hard coal with low sulphur content.
In a separate incident, a fire at a mine operated by potash maker Uralkali in Solikamsk, Russia has killed nine workers.
