Rescue workers resume search for missing miner after Polish mine accident kills one, injures 17 | World News

WARSAW, Poland – Rescue workers resumed an underground search for a missing miner in southern Poland on Friday after a powerful earthquake struck the Rydultowy coal mine the previous day, killing one miner and injuring 17 others.

Aleksandra Wysocka-Siembiga, a spokeswoman for the Polish coal mining group, told the Associated Press that safety conditions underground had improved so the search could continue overnight. Rescue workers had to pause their work late Thursday due to the risk of renewed tremors and high levels of methane gas in the mine.

Seventy-eight miners were in the area when a magnitude 3.1 earthquake struck about 1,200 meters below the surface early Thursday morning. Most were quickly brought to the surface, including 17 who were hospitalized immediately after the quake. One miner was pronounced dead when he was taken out of the mine.

Vibrations in coal mines caused by the build-up of stress in the rock can lead to rockfalls or sudden rock eruptions, which can be dangerous for miners.

The Polish coal mining group has had to contend with several fatal accidents this year. In May, three miners died in a collapse at the Myslowice-Wesola mine, and in April another miner died in the same mine.

Two miners lost their lives in separate accidents at the Rydultowy Mine in 2019 and 2020. The mine was opened in 1792 and currently employs about 2,000 miners.

Coal mining is considered dangerous in Poland. In some coal mines there is a risk of methane gas explosions or collapses. In older mines, people dig deep into the earth in search of coal, which increases the dangers of the work. The coal industry is one of Poland’s most important employers and provides around 75,000 jobs.

Last year, 15 miners lost their lives in accidents.

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