Nineteen miners are missing after an explosion at a coal mine in northern Slovakia today trapped them underground and cut off contact, a spokeswoman for the mining company said.
The explosion at the Handlova mine, some 195 km northeast of the capital Bratislava, may have been caused by gas, the miner Hornonitrianske Bane Prievidza said.
The company, which is the biggest miner in the central European country with a 66 per cent market share in sales, said there had been a fire in an old shaft earlier in the morning.
"We lost telephone contact at around 9:30am and sensors monitoring the level of mine gases stopped working," spokeswoman Adriana Sivakova said.
"On the basis of information from witnesses, there probably was an explosion of secondary flammable gases that had amassed after the fire," she said. "We have failed to renew contact with 19 employees."
She said there was no word on their condition.
Nine other miners suffered minor injuries and are being treated in hospital.
Reuters