One miner dead, five injured after tremor in Silesian coal mine

2023-08-05 11:16 update: 2023-08-06, 12:48
Photo PAP/Zbigniew Meissner
Photo PAP/Zbigniew Meissner
One miner was killed and five injured after an underground tremor occurred on Saturday morning in the Bielszowice mine in  Ruda Slaska, Silesia, southern Poland, according to information from Polish Mining Group (PGG), the owner of the mine.

The spokesperson for the State Mining Authority, Tomasz Glogowski, told PAP that the shock occurred at around 6.30 a.m. in the area of Longwall 846 - seam 405/2, at a depth of 1,000 metres.

He said that six miners were injured: five of them were transported to the surface, they were conscious, but injured.

"One miner remained underground, the rescuers and a doctor reached him, unfortunately the miner was pronounced dead at the scene. The family, in the presence of a psychologist, has already been notified," Glogowski said.

The most seriously injured miner was flown by a helicopter of the Polish Medical Air Rescue to the hospital in Katowice-Ochojec. The others were taken to nearby hospitals, he added. 

Glogowski also said that the tremor caused some damage to the underground infrastructure, but not enough to make it significantly difficult to reach the deceased miner.

During the years 2018-2022, 19 rock bursts (tremors which cause damage to infrastructure above or below ground - PAP) took place in the Polish underground mining industry. As a result of these events, there were 23 fatal accidents, 3 serious accidents and 98 accidents causing work to temporarily come to a halt. (PAP)
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