Belgrade, Serbia, April 1st. According to the authorities, eight people were killed and 18 others injured in an accident in a mine in central Serbia.
The incident at the Soko coal mine happened just after 04:00 in the morning. The authorities launched an investigation to clarify what happened.
“Inspectors, police and relevant authorities are in the area and are doing whatever is necessary to determine the cause of this tragedy,” Mines and Energy Minister Zorana Mihajlovic said.
State television RTS and other local media initially reported that part of the shaft collapsed, releasing methane gas inside and trapping miners. However, Mihajlovic, who visited the site on Friday, denied the blast reports.
“There was no explosion or anything like that, but the methane surge was so great that they were suffocating,” said Mihajlovic, who offered his condolences to the victims’ families and promised government help.
Mihajlovic visited the scene of the accident on Friday and expressed his condolences to the families of the victims, to whom he promised state aid.
State television RTS and other local media said the accident happened when part of the mine shaft collapsed, releasing methane gas inside and trapping miners.
According to the mine’s director, Drago Milinkovic, the initial information indicated a “sudden release of methane gas” down the well. “The Soko coal mine is a dangerous coal mine, dangerous from a meth perspective,” he explained. “Safety measures at the mine are at the highest level, but this time methane was suddenly released and the monitoring and equipment in place just didn’t help.”
Doctors in nearby Aleksinac, where the miners were taken, said most of the injuries were not serious.
The Soko mine, about 200 kilometers south-east of the capital Belgrade, has been in operation since the early 20th century. In 1998, 29 miners died there in another accident.