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Polish mine blast 'kills eight' Race to save Polish mine workers
(about 3 hours later)
At least eight miners have been killed and 15 are trapped after a gas explosion at a coal mine in southern Poland, officials say. Rescuers in Poland are working through the night in a desperate attempt to reach 15 miners trapped after a gas blast that killed eight colleagues.
The explosion took place one kilometre below ground at the Halemba coal mine in Ruda Slaska, 300km (190 miles) south-west of Warsaw.The explosion took place one kilometre below ground at the Halemba coal mine in Ruda Slaska, 300km (190 miles) south-west of Warsaw.
Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski has flown to the site of the blast to support the rescue work. Anxious relatives have gathered at the pit head to await news.
An explosion at the same pit in 1990 killed 19 miners. Rescue work has been slowed by fears there could be another explosion of methane gas.
Fear for those trapped Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski flew to the site of the blast and has declared a period of national mourning for the eight dead miners.
The Southern Mining Company said Tuesday's explosion at 1630 (1530 GMT) happened as workers were demolishing a wall. Grzegorz Pawlaszek, head of the state-owned coal company, said seven bodies had been recovered and the location of an eighth was known.
Families of those still trapped gathered at the pit head with officials and priests. However, the high concentration of methane meant another explosion was possible and the body could not at present be retrieved.
The Halemba mine confirmed that eight workers were dead. The identities of the dead could not quickly be determined as their ID tags had been blown away in the blast.
Company spokesman Zbigniew Madej added: "We fear the worst for the others. The conditions down there are extreme. It is hell. 'It is hell'
"It is impossible to breathe in the area of the explosion, the ventilation has been destroyed." The fate of the 15 trapped miners is not known, although their locator devices were not transmitting.
Prime Minister Kaczynski said: "We must still hold onto hope, but if the worst has happened, the families of the miners will receive the necessary aid." There is fear. This could have happened to any of us Krzysztof Przybyla, miner
He said national mourning would be decreed. Mr Pawlaszek said "there is a chance to find someone still alive" but another spokesman for the company, Zbigniew Madej, admitted: "We fear the worst for the others".
He added: "The conditions down there are extreme. It is hell. It is impossible to breathe in the area of the explosion, the ventilation has been destroyed."
More than 70 rescuers are using heavy equipment to try to reach the shaft but it is not known if the breathing apparatus for the trapped miners will hold out.
Temperatures in the shaft have reached 40C.
Priests have been counselling distressed relatives. Eight candles burned on a wall at the main gate.
"Me and my son, we are waiting for my husband," Barbara Luczakiewicz told Reuters news agency.
"We hope he will get out of there. I am very scared but I haven't lost hope."
One miner leaving another shift at the mine, Krzysztof Przybyla, said: "There is fear. This could have happened to any of us."
The Southern Mining Company said the explosion happened at 1630 (1530 GMT) on Tuesday.
Mr Pawlaszek said the shaft had been closed in March because of high gas levels, but the miners were retrieving equipment worth £23m that had been left behind.
"It was new equipment and that is why we decided to retrieve it," he said.
Prime Minister Kaczynski said at the site: "We must still hold onto hope, but if the worst has happened, the families of the miners will receive the necessary aid."
The mine is in Silesia, the heartland of the Polish coal industry.The mine is in Silesia, the heartland of the Polish coal industry.
Unions have often complained of poor investment in the industry. More than 80 miners have died in the country since 2003.Unions have often complained of poor investment in the industry. More than 80 miners have died in the country since 2003.
An explosion at the Halemba pit in 1990 killed 19 miners.