RESCUERS searching for miners who went missing in an accident in the south of Poland yesterday have found one dead, but failed to locate nine others, the mine’s owners Jastrzebska Spolka Weglowa (JSW) said today.

“The miner was taken to the rescuers’ base where the doctor confirmed his death,” JSW said in a statement. 

He was the first of four miners located yesterday, but there has been no contact with the others, the statement said. 

“Other rescue teams are still trying to re-establish ventilation in the mine shafts in order to reach the six other miners and transport them when they have been found,” JSW said. 

The accident – the second such incident in Poland last week – took place at the Zofiowka mine in the south of the country.

Poland, which relies on coal for some 70% of its power, has had several other mining disasters in recent years. 

A tremor shook the Zofiowka pit at 3.40am (0140 GMT) yesterday, 900m below the surface, sparking a methane leak. 

All but 10 of the 52 miners underground managed to make it to the surface.

JSW is also the owner of a mine in Pniowek some 230km south, where an accident on Wednesday killed five, including a rescuer, and left seven missing.

An initial explosion occurred shortly after midnight on Wednesday at a depth of 1,000m.

A second shook the site while rescue workers were helping the victims of the first.

Twenty people were hurt, including six with serious burns. The search for the seven people missing was called off on Friday after a third blast made conditions in the pit too dangerous, JSW said.

– AFP, April 24, 2022.