A worker from the Pniówek coal mine in the south of the country died in hospital on Tuesday evening, the eighth casualty from last week’s methane explosions, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
Seven more workers remain trapped inside Pniówek, according to officials.
Meanwhile, emergency teams at the nearby Zofiówka mine found the last missing victims of a tremor that shook the facility on Saturday.
The four miners “did not show signs of life” as they were being transported to safety, mine management officials said late on Tuesday.
Disasters at Zofiówka and Pniówek mines
The Zofiówka mine was rocked by a tremor in the early hours of Saturday when 52 miners were working underground.
Meanwhile, the Pniówek facility was hit by a series of methane explosions last Wednesday and Thursday, affecting both the miners on duty and emergency teams sent to rescue them.
For safety reasons, the relief mission at Pniówek was later suspended, officials told reporters.
Both Zofiówka, based in the city of Jastrzębie-Zdrój, and Pniówek, located in nearby Pawłowice, are operated by the state-run JSW group, the country’s biggest coal producer.
Help for victims’ families: PM
Poland’s Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki on Monday described the accidents at Pniówek and Zofiówka as “a black week" for the Polish mining industry.
He pledged that his government “won’t leave anyone alone.”
Visiting an emergency response centre in the southern city of Bytom, Morawieicki said: "The children, families, wives and loved ones of the miners who lost their lives at Zofiówka and Pniówek will receive care."
(pm/gs)
Source: IAR, PAP, jsw.pl