BELGRADE, YU, Jan. 18, 1998, Yugoslavia.
Angry over an explosion that killed 29 coal miners in Serbia, a local mayor criticized federal officials Saturday for ignoring primitive and unsafe conditions in the country's mines.
The powerful blast ripped through a state-run mine Friday night in Sokobanja, about 110 miles south of the capital, Belgrade. Nineteen miners also were injured in the explosion, while dozens were forced to crawl to safety through suffocating smoke and dust.
The Serbian Interior Ministry announced that it had issued arrest warrents for four mining officials on charges they had committed "acts against public safety." But it did not reveal any findings from an investigation into the explosion.
Zoran Zivkovic, the mayor of southern Serbia's largest town, Nis, accused the federal government of negligence. "The miners have had no option but to pay for this with the highest price, their lives," he said.
Sokobanja miners, many of whom were among the 76 caught underground by the blast, went on strike last year to protest outdated equipment and poor working conditions, Zivkovic said. He added that a mine technician had been fired shortly after warning of potential accidents.
The state- run news agency Tanjug reported that the blast was caused by a gust of methane, a naturally occuring colorless, odorless gas that seeps from coal seams.
VORKUTA, Tsentralnaya Mine, RU, Jan. 19, 1998
A methane gas explosion at a coal mine in the Russian Arctic killed at least 4 miners, injured 5 and trapped about 2 dozen others. Rescue worker's hopes of finding miners alive were slim, the Interfax news agency quoted local officials in the Vorkuta region as saying. The blast caused the shaft where the miners were working to collapse and set off a fire that raged throughout the day. Emergency crews were having trouble puting out the blaze and navigating the debris to reach those trapped.
The explosion occured during the overnight shift, when 49 miners were inside the Tsentralnaya Mine at a depth of nearly 3,000 feet, the Emergency Situations Minister reported. It said 22 miners, five of them injured, managed to reach the surface and drag out the body of one dead colleague. The bodies of three others were recovered later, mine officials said.
DONETSK, Skachinskoho Mine, Ukraine, Apr. 5, 1998
A methane gas explosion and fire tore through a deep coal mine, killing at least 31 miners and injuring 48 others, emergency officials said. At least 30 miners were missing, and the death toll was expected to rise. The blast occured at a depth of more than 3,600 feet in the Skachinskoho Mine in the eastern city of Donetsk. It was the country's worst coal mine accident since it gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.
ARUSHA, Tanzanite Mines, Tanzania, Apr. 13, 1998
Heavy Rain flooded mine shafts near the northern town of Arusha, and at least 100 miners were missing, state radio reported. Fourteen shafts, some as deep as 300 feet, were flooded during heavy rain late last week as the miners were digging for Tanzanite, a gemstone used for jewelry. Two bodies have been recovered, a regional official said, but the search for others has been hampered by lack of heavy earthmoving equipment. The mines will be closed indefinately.
LASSING, Talc Mine, Austria, July 17, 1998
A talc mine here caved creating a huge crater 165 feet deep and 500 feet in diameter. One miner feared traped, 10 man rescue crew descends to free him.
Update: 10 man rescue crew feared killed when second mudslide burst into main shaft.
Update: Aug.17. The miner feared dead was rescued! Austrian television interupted its regular programming as Georg Hainzl, 24, was hoisted by cables from the 200 foot deep eating area where he was trapped a month ago. The fate of the 10 other miners is still unknown.