Twelve children left without fathers: Eight miners died in Soko coal mine, suffocated by methane

Photo: Nikola Tomic

Minister of Mining and Energy of Serbia Zorana Mihajlovic told a press conference in the Soko mine today that there was no explosion there, but that the miners suffocated due to a high concentration of methane.

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"This is great sadness, eight miners of the Soko mine were killed, they suffocated this morning at 4:10. There was no explosion, the increase in methane was the cause, the miners suffocated. The bodies are on their way to Nis, for autopsies to be performed, investigators are doing their job, I believe that they will soon have the cause of these event in writing," Mihajlovic stressed.

She said that this is a so-called methane mine that is supplied with all the necessary equipment and monitoring.

"We have every second recorded. There was no explosion, they suffocated from a high concentration of methane," she said.

The minister said that the state would help all the affected families.

"The government will meet, just as the miners of the entire Resavica (complex) will help. Eight miners are survived by 12 children, one of them a baby born earlier this year. It is our job to do everything so that they are not forgotten," said Mihajlovic.

(Telegraf.rs)