WARSAW: Two workers were killed due to an outburst of methane and rock masses at the Pniowek coal mine in southern Poland, owner JSW said on Monday evening.
The company said that after 5 p.m. (1600 GMT) on Monday, a large amount of methane was released at the Pniowek mine, where a high-performance roadheader was operating with 10 workers underground.
Eight managed to evacuate on their own, while contact with two others was lost, JSW said. After a seven-hour rescue operation, teams located the missing miners who were pronounced dead at the scene by a doctor, the company said.
On Tuesday morning, Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk offered condolences to the victims' families on X, while President Karol Nawrocki said he received the news of the miners' deaths "with great sorrow".
Polish Press Agency (PAP) said that the deaths were the 14th and 15th fatalities in mining accidents in Poland this year, and the 11th and 12th in hard coal mines. The Pniowek mine is among the country's operations with the highest methane risk, PAP reported.
Two killed in underground explosion at Polish coal mine
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Two killed in underground explosion at Polish coal mine
Putin and Trump discuss Iran and Ukraine wars: Kremlin
- Putin and Trump held a one-hour call in their first talks since December
MOSCOW: Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump on Monday discussed the Iran war and Ukraine conflict during a “frank and constructive” telephone call, the Kremlin said.
Putin and Trump held a one-hour call in their first talks since December and Washington sought the discussion, Putin’s diplomatic adviser Yuri Ushakov was quoted as saying by Russian news agencies.
“The accent was placed on the situation surrounding the conflict with Iran and the bilateral negotiations underway with the representatives of the United States on settling the Ukrainian question,” Ushakov said.
Ushakov said Putin called for a “quick political and diplomatic settlement” to the US-Israeli war against Iran, which has been a key ally for Russia.
The Russian leader also gave Trump “a description of the current situation on the line of contact where Russian troops are progressing with a lot of success,” he added, referring to the Ukraine war.
Putin “positively evaluated the mediation efforts undertaken” by Trump in the Ukraine conflict, the adviser said. A series of talks have been held between Russian and US officials and between Russian, US and Ukrainian officials, but with no breakthrough in efforts to reach a ceasefire.
Ushakov said Washington had wanted to “discuss a series of extremely important questions linked to the current international situation.”
“The conversation was serious and constructive,” he added.
Trump and Putin held a summit in Alaska in August last year.
