Speaking at a midnight press conference, Adam Rozmus, vice-president of Jastrzębska Spółka Węglowa (JSW), said that a doctor who reached the scene underground pronounced both workers dead.
“The employees who died as a result of this incident were highly experienced miners with many years of service,” Mr Rozmus said. He added that the men were aged 40 and 41.
Contact with the two miners had been lost earlier during an incident at a depth of around 830 metres. A major rescue operation involving ten specialist teams had been under way throughout the evening and night.
Eight other miners working in the same area at the time of the accident were able to reach the surface safely.
The Pniówek mine is located in Pawłowice, in Poland’s Silesian coal-mining region.
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Source: IAR/TVN24