Ministry tells Telegraf: When accident happened there was 96% methane in the Soko mine, no time to react

Photo: MRE/Zoran Petrovic

According to a statement the Ministry of Mining and Energy made for Telegraf.rs, the investigation into the accident in the Soko mine, in which eight miners were killed, is underway. And the public, they say, will be informed of all the facts when the investigation has been completed.

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We did not receive a specific answer to the question whether it is true that the smell of dangerous chemicals was present in the mine in the days before the accident.

"The Soko mine has the most modern equipment for detecting the percentage of methane, but at the time of the accident, there was 96 percent of that gas in the mine room. Such a large concentration took up the entire volume of the room and there was no time or opportunity for the miners to react. Methane is a frequent companion of coal deposits, especially in deposits with tectonic disturbances, such as fault zones, where there is a possibility of creation of methane reservoirs, where methane is in high concentrations and under high pressure. There are previous actions and they have been taken, but unfortunately, this profession always carries with it a level of risk," the ministry told our portal.

They also said that the Soko mine has been operating since 1908, and that 57 miners were killed in previous accidents.

"Immediately upon receiving the notification of the a accident, the mining inspector of the Ministry of Mining and Energy started investigating the cause of this tragedy and ordered urgent measures which, among other things, include a ban on further mining operations. Immediately after the accident, on April 1, a commission composed of mining and methanometry experts was formed to determine the cause of the accident, which together with the inspector went down to the pit on the same day and started working," the ministry added.

The public prosecutor, who immediately went to the scene, is leading the procedure within which he is investigating the circumstances and conducting an investigation to determine whether there are grounds to file complaints, and the police are also engaged.

"The mining inspector who is examining the causes of this mining accident at the scene, after determining all the facts and circumstances, in accordance with the legal obligation, will submit a report to the prosecutor as soon as possible, along with an opinion about what caused the accident."

(Telegraf.rs)