The search for seven people missing after methane explosions in a Poland coal mine killed five was suspended when more blasts injured workers taking part in the rescue operation, officials reported Friday.
A decision to seal off the area of the Pniowek mine where the missing are believed to be was made after the Thursday night explosions injured 10 rescuers who were working to create safe conditions for the search.
Tomasz Cudny, the head of the mine operated by the JSW company, said it was a “very difficult decision” to halt the search but it was taken out of concern for the well-being of rescue team members.
“It would be very risky and very irresponsible to send them to such a dangerous area,”Cudny said.
Seven people were hospitalized after the latest blasts, three of them in serious condition but conscious. Earlier Thursday, JSW said 25 people who were injured in the original explosions early Wednesday remained hospitalized, nine of them in very serious condition at a hospital that specializes in treating mine accident victims, especially those with severe burns.
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