Pniowek rescue operation abandoned

Attempts to rescue seven miners trapped below ground at the Pniowek coal mine in southern Poland have been abandoned, Jastrzebska Spolka Weglowa (JSW), the company owning the mine, announced on Friday.

22.04.2022 11:12 update: 23.04.2022 13:37

Photo PAP/Zbigniew Meissner

Four miners and a rescuer lost their lives in a series of methane explosions in the mine on Wednesday morning.

A rescue operation was still underway on Thursday afternoon in the hope of saving the seven miners but it had to be stopped after a further explosion in the mine.

JSW CEO Tomasz Cudny said the decision to end the rescue operation was "very difficult".

Cudny said ten rescuers were injured in the mine on Thursday, and were now hospitalised. (PAP)

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