Friday 5 September 2014

Five Coal Miners Die In Bosnia After Quake Rocks Mine

Rescuers at a coal mine in Bosnia have freed 29 trapped miners but
five others were confirmed dead after a gas blast caused by a small
earthquake.

The survivors were pulled one by one out of the Raspotocje mine in
Zenica after spending the night more than 500m (1,600ft) below ground.

Relief among people waiting outside turned to anguish when it became
clear that not all 34 men had survived.

Twenty-two other miners escaped before the pit collapsed on Thursday.

The 3.5-magnitude quake had struck north-west of the capital Sarajevo.

It was a heart-breaking end to the rescue effort, the BBC's Guy
Delauney reports.

People in Zenica who had been following the drama at the mine had been
assured that all the miners were alive and well. It was only as the
last of the men emerged from that pit that the reality became clear,
our correspondent says.

The explosion which triggered the collapse was the third such incident
at the facility this year.

Even before news of the deaths emerged, unions and families of the
trapped miners had accused management of understating the scale of the
problem - and moving too slowly rescue the men.

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