Status: 04/01/2022 2:44 p.m
At least eight people died and around 20 were injured in an accident in a coal mine in Serbia. Part of the pit has reportedly collapsed, with several miners apparently still at the mine.
A serious accident in a coal mine in southern Serbia has claimed the lives of at least eight miners. In addition, 18 injured miners were taken to a hospital, director of the Aleksinac clinic, Goran Vidic, told the state television channel RTS. Among them are three seriously injured. Two other injured miners were taken to a hospital in neighboring Nis. The accident happened in a mine near Aleksinac, about 200 kilometers southeast of Belgrade.
Accident in Serbia: At least eight people died in a coal mine.
Image: REUTERS
Media: Several miners still in the mine
RTS reported that the accident at the Soko coal mine happened around 5am. At the moment of the accident there were 49 miners. Rescue teams got about twelve miners out of the mine alive. According to RTS information, however, several miners initially remained squeezed into the mine.
According to the TV station and other local media, part of the pit collapsed, trapping the miners. Mine manager Drago Milinkovic said methane gas was released, according to initial findings. With a view to something like this, the coal mine is dangerous.
Already several accidents
Several serious accidents have happened in the past in the Aleksinac coal basin in southern Serbia. In November 1989, 89 miners died in a fire, and in 1983, 35 people died in a deflagration.