Polish mining disaster claims 23 lives

A methane explosion at a depth of 1,030 meters caused the November 21 tragedy. The miners were attempting to retrieve €17 million ($US22 million) worth of equipment from a tunnel when a blast caused the shaft to collapse. The tunnel was supposed to have been closed in March due to dangerously high methane concentrations, but was kept active because of the value of the equipment left behind.

The pit was the site of a near-fatal accident earlier this year. In February, a methane gas explosion led to one miner being trapped under rubble for 111 hours. He was eventually pulled out alive.

According to a Polish Coal Company (PCC) spokesman, the state-owned enterprise that owns the mine, the miners were killed instantly in the latest explosion. Experts asserted that the blast would have produced temperatures of up to 1,800 degrees Celsius.

Due to the depth and dangerousness of the corridor in which the miners were working, the chances of any of them surviving were seen as extremely small. This was confirmed when the body of the last of the miners was found in the early hours of November 23. The youngest of the victims was 21, the oldest, 59. Identification has proven difficult, as their personal belongings were blown away and ID tags misplaced.

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