Five miners were killed, five injured and two are missing and probably dead from a blast at a mine in western Romania, authorities said today.
Officials said the explosion, which may have been caused by an accumulation of gas, occurred at Anina coal mine in Caras Severin county at around 0530 (0330 GMT). An investigation is underway.
Five miners were admitted to hospital with burns and gas intoxication, of which three were in serious condition, doctors said.
Around 200 people were working in the mine at the time of the blast, the Economy Ministry said in a statement. They were evacuated and the mine was closed.
Anina coal mine, 230 years old and 1,200 metres deep, is Romania's oldest mine still exploited and is one of Europe's deepest. It was undergoing a restructuring programme under which 290 miners of the total 500 workforce were to be laid off.
Economy Ministry Codrut Seres said Anina will remain closed until the investigation clarifies the cause of the blast and decides whether the mine is safe.
he worst accident in Romania's mining industry after the 1989 fall of communism killed 14 in 2001 in the Jiu Valley mining area in the centre of the country. Such accidents were usually not reported during communism.
The Black Sea state which could join the European Union as early as 2007 has been restructuring its inefficient mining sector by closing old mines and laying off thousands of miners over the past years.