Eight miners were killed and 18 were injured in the accident in the “Soko” mine near Sokobanja.
As RTS unofficially finds out, the action of rescuing the miners is over.
Most of the injured miners were transferred to the hospital in Aleksinac, and two of them to the UCC Nis.
Teams of funeral companies also arrived in the circle of mines, so the bodies of the killed miners were probably pulled out.
Six killed miners from Aleksinac, one from Vranje and one from Soko Banja
The president of the municipality of Aleksinac, Dalibor Radičević, says for RTS that, unfortunately, a tragedy happened again in that place. I express my condolences to all the families of the injured miners, says Radičević.
Eight miners were killed in the accident – six are from Aleksinac, one from Vranje and one from Soko Banja.
“Currently, there is a mining inspector in the pit with a public prosecutor and a commission formed by the mine management in order to determine the causes of the accident, and we expect to take out the bodies of the injured miners soon,” said Radičević.
He also pointed out that 18 miners are in hospital, and that no one is in danger.
The director of PE PEU Resavica, Sasa Spasic, said that the mining accident in the mine pit happened shortly after four in the morning in the part of the mine deposit of the eastern field in the third shift, during regular works on coal exploitation.
According to still unofficial information, there was a collapse of coal in the excavation chamber VE 3/1 and a sudden penetration of methane into the working space. I express my condolences to the families of the injured miners, we are here for them at any moment, said Spasić.
The director of the mine, Drago Milinković, said that the safety measures that are being taken in the mine are at the highest level, but this time there was a sudden release of methane.
The accident killed miners D. Z. (1979), N. T. (1985), R. G. (1975), P. P. (1991), B. Č. (1966), B. Z. (1967), B. Ž. (1963) and B. S. (1988).
The other miners who were in the shaft at the time of the accident were pulled out, and the injured are being provided with medical assistance.
The mining inspector and other competent authorities are on the ground and investigating the cause of the accident.
The director of the Aleksinac Health Center, Rodoljub Zivadinovic, says for RTS that eight miners were killed, and that the injured have mostly minor injuries.
“Several surrounding centers sent all their teams they could, some of them were transported to the Aleksinac General Hospital,” adds Zivadinovic.
He also says that this is an Aleksinac shift, so most of the miners are from Aleksinac.
The director of the General Hospital in Aleksinac, Goran Vidic, told RTS that 18 miners were transported to that hospital, three of them with serious injuries, but that no one was in danger.
Vidic said that, according to the information that the hospital received, there were 49 miners in the shift that was found in the mine when the accident happened.
He emphasized that the hospital currently has enough capacity to take care of the injured.
“The situation here is difficult, there are relatives, people are upset. Unfortunately, this is not our first accident. Aleksinac and its surroundings are known for that, it has happened again now “, states Vidić.
Soko mine worker on working conditions: Catastrophic, “zero”
Zoran Nikolic, a supervisor at the external plant in the “Soko” mine, where a methane explosion occurred at around 5 am, in which eight miners were killed, says that it is a pit with a high risk of work, estimating that working conditions inside are “catastrophic”.
“I have been outside for a year and a half, maybe two, but the conditions in the pit are catastrophic, so zero, zero, zero,” he says, N1 reports.
Two miners taken care of in Nis
The director of UCC Nis, Dr. Zoran Perišić, says for RTS that for now, two miners have been taken care of in that health institution, both with chest injuries.
“We have an announcement of the arrival of a larger group – between 20 and 30 injured miners, so they will all be examined and very likely taken care of at the Clinical Center. “Everyone will receive the best medical care, there is no need to doubt that,” the doctor added.
He points out that they have the capacity and that all services are ready.
The action of rescuing the miners is in progress.
The explosion happened in the early morning hours.
Eight hard workers lost
The director of the “Soko” mine, Drago Milinković, said that the mine lost eight hard-working workers and expressed his condolences to the families of the killed miners.
“The security measures we are taking in the mine are at the highest level, but this time there was a sudden release of methane and there was nothing we could do,” Milinkovic said.
The director of “Aleksinacki rudniki”, Nemanja Denić, said that their workers perform works in the “Soko” mine and are part of that team.
“The measures are respected to the maximum, but these are situations that are impossible to predict,” said Denić and expressed his condolences to the families of the injured miners.
