Five miners are killed and eight missing after methane explosion rips through underground shaft in the Czech Republic
- Eight further mine workers were injured in the industrial accident on Thursday
- The miners who were killed and injured were said to be predominantly Polish
- The explosion took place in Karvina, in the east of the country near Poland
Five miners have died and eight others are feared missing after a methane explosion in the Czech Republic.
Eight further mine workers, said to be predominantly Polish, were injured in the industrial accident on Thursday.
The explosion took place at the CSM mine in Karvina, in the east of the country near the border with Poland.
The blast caused devastation in some underground work areas with poor visibility obstructing the efforts of rescue units.
Mining rescue workers prepare their equipment as they head into the shaft in Karvina, near the Czech-Polish border, were five people were killed in an explosion on Thursday evening
A spokesman for the state-owned OKD company, which operates the shafts, said the explosion took place in a hard coal mine at 5pm.
The blast ripped through the mine around 875 yards (800 metres), the spokesman said.
Spokesman Ivo Celechovsky said: ‘The death toll has grown to five, eight miners are missing and 10 miners, mostly Polish, were injured.
‘Rescue works are continuing.’
Three rescue workers at the CSM coal mine where an explosion tore through the shaft
People wait for information at the entrance to the mine where five workers were killed
A mining rescue worker walks near the gate of the CSM coal mine near the Polish border