Explosion At Mine In Eastern Serbia Kills Eight, Others Feared Trapped

Forty-nine people were on duty when the incident occurred at the Soko coal mine on April 1. (file photo)

Eight people have been killed and 20 others injured after an explosion at the Soko coal mine in eastern Serbia.

The accident happened at around 5 a.m. local time on April 1, when part of the pit mine collapsed after what officials said may have been a methane-gas blast.

Rodoljub Zivadinovic, director of the nearby Aleksinac Health Center, said there are fears more people could be trapped in the mine.

He said the mine's management told him that a total of 49 miners were on duty when the accident occurred.


8 killed in Serbia coal mine accident

Rescue operation is ongoing, miners remain trapped underground


Talha Ozturk |01.04.2022

BELGRADE, Serbia

At least eight miners were killed and 30 others injured on Friday morning in a coal mine accident in Serbia.

Serbian state television reported that a part of the pit collapsed in the Soko mine near Sokobanja town in the country's east.

According to the report, there was a methane gas explosion that brought down parts of the mine shaft leaving some miners trapped.

A total of 65 miners were rescued.

More than 20 others were injured, said Rodoljub Zivadinovic, the director of the Aleksinac Health Center where the miners were brought for treatment.

All non-emergency operations have been canceled, said Goran Vidic, the director of the General Hospital Aleksinac, another hospital in the region.

"The situation here is difficult, there are also relatives, people are upset. Unfortunately, this is not our first accident. Aleksinac and its surroundings are known for that, it has happened again now," said Vidic.

A rescue operation is underway as it remains unclear how many people are trapped underground.