Serbian Mayor Ties Mine Blast To Government

Angry over an explosion that killed 29 coal miners in Serbia, a local mayor criticized federal officials Saturday for ignoring primitive and unsafe conditions in the country’s mines.

The powerful blast ripped through a state-run mine Friday night in Sokobanja, about 110 miles south of the capital, Belgrade. Nineteen miners also were injured in the explosion, while dozens were forced to crawl to safety through suffocating smoke and dust.

“All we heard was a loud boom and then a force swept me away,” Belgrade’s BK television quoted miner Ljubinko Jovanovic as saying from his hospital bed. “When I came to, I was still choking.”

The Serbian Interior Ministry announced that it had issued arrest warrants for four mining officials on charges they had committed “acts against public safety.” It did not, however, reveal any findings so far from an investigation into the explosion.

Zoran Zivkovic, the mayor of southern Serbia’s largest town, Nis, accused the federal government of negligence.

“The miners have had no option but to pay for this with the highest price - their lives,” he said.

Sokobanja miners - many of whom were among the 76 caught underground by the blast - went on strike last year to protest outdated equipment and poor working conditions, Zivkovic said. He added that a mine technician had been sacked shortly after warning of potential accidents.

The state-run news agency Tanjug reported that the explosion was caused by a gust of methane, a naturally occurring colorless and odorless gas that seeps out of coal seams. Methane can build up easily in poorly ventilated mine shafts and a spark can ignite it.

The burst of gas caught fire 80 yards underground, overwhelming the group of miners working the nightshift.

All coal mines are legally obligated to have methane-signaling equipment and alarm systems, said Mile Paripovic, a mining engineer from eastern Serbia’s Bor copper mine.