At least 12 miners were killed and 11 others severely injured after two powerful explosions on Saturday at a coal mine in Petrila, Hunedoara county, western Romania.
The explosions were caused by an accumulation of methane gas, according to Petrila Mayor Ilie Paducel.
Eight miners died and eight others were severely injured in the first blast at around 3 p.m. local time, while the other four died in second blast at 6:40 p.m..
The four miners who died in the evening are rescuers that went down in the underground pit to fish out the first eight victims of the first blast. Three more rescuers were injured.
Searches might be halted after 24 hours, as the intervention rules in the case of an explosion of such magnitude require. In the meantime, the methane will be evacuated from the site, so that the future rescue missions may be safely conducted.
At the entrance to the Petrila mine, hundreds of people were waiting for the explosion victims and survivors to be fished out.
The Petrila mine with 1,490 employees produces 390,000 tons of coal annually. The accident is the fourth of this year in Romania's coal industry and probably the worst since Nov. 29, 1980, when 53 miners were killed in a gas blast at the Livezeni mine, in Jiu Valley of Hunedoara.
Source: Xinhua
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