This marks the first fatality in the Polish mining industry this year.
The incident unfolded when a tremor of magnitude 2 x 10 to 6 joules occurred in the hollow gallery 1M of the Bobrek mine, trapping 14 workers, six of whom were directly affected by the tremor.
Efforts to rescue the trapped miners ensued immediately, with four miners able to evacuate the danger zone independently and one transported for medical attention. Unfortunately, the final miner, partially caught by the collapse, succumbed despite rescue efforts.
"During the hours-long rescue operation, the last injured miner died, the doctor declared death," Grzegorz Wacławek, the president of the company that owns the mine, said on Wednesday night. "The action to get our colleague out is still ongoing and will take several more hours."
The Bobrek-Piekary mine reported a last year's output of around 900,000 tons, with plans to extract approximately 1.2 million tons this year.
While tremors are not uncommon in Polish coal mines, the majority do not result in adverse effects. The miner's death at Bobrek-Piekary mine marks the first fatality in Polish coal mining and mining in general this year, according to current statistics from WUG. Last year, the industry recorded a total of 15 fatalities, with 10 occurring in hard coal mining.
(jh)
Source: PAP