LATEST: 12 Poles killed in lethal blast at Czech mine: PM
PR dla Zagranicy
Grzegorz Siwicki
21.12.2018 10:30
Twelve Poles are among workers killed in a lethal methane blast at a mine in the Czech Republic, the Polish prime minister said on Friday morning.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki briefs reporters at the Czech coal mine near the southern Polish border on Friday. Photo: PAP/Andrzej Grygiel
A total of 13 miners were killed after the explosion at the mine in Karvina, close to the southern Polish border, on Thursday evening, Polish public broadcaster TVP Info reported.
Previous reports put the number of Polish casualties at 11.
Ten other miners were reported injured, including one in critical condition.
Most of the staff who were working on the shift at the time of the blast were Poles, a spokesman for the OKD company, which owns the mine, was cited by public broadcaster Polish Radio’s IAR news agency as saying.
Poland's Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki was on the scene of the accident on Friday morning.
The explosion took place 800 metres underground on Thursday evening. Work at the mine was immediately stopped, IAR reported.
(gs/pk)
Source: IAR