Twelve coal miners dead.

Methane fire in coal mine kills 12

UPDATE - At least twelve miners have died after methane gas ignited at the Slask Wujek mine in the industrial region of Silesia, southern Poland.

Fifteen men are seriously injured, three in a critical state, say medical staff.

The accident happened at a depth of 1000 meters at 10.15 CET this morning at the Wujek-Slask, Ruch-Slask mine in Ruda Slaska-Kochlowice.

Fifteen miners were taken to the Centre for Treatment of Burns in Siemianowice Slaskie. Others, with minor burns, were hospitalized nearby.

Thanks for that news, Wrocław. I think one of my students works there so I'll have to make sure that he is ok.

Sad to find that this is only the third post on this thread.

No doubt someone will be along to say that it happens regularly/it's only uneducated Silesians/miners/Poles etc who died/whatever (delete according to level of prejudice), but being Polish and having relatives in the region, this affects me far more than if it happened in e.g. China (even though industrial accidents anywhere are never something to celebrate, but you know what I'm getting at here).

What makes it even worse is the circumstances behind the accident, i.e. miners being forced to work by their bosses, despite inaccurate or borderline recorded levels of methane. I know it's just another example of ongoing crimes against the Polish working class, but even I expected a few more people to forget the mindless Polish women/Turk/drunken motorist etc threads for a few minutes and reply here.

So, in the absence of anyone else, R.I.P. to the deceased and thoughts to the remaining victims and their families. And when you're typing away in your comfortable student/IT consultant/office position, and moaning about how "hard" your life is, remember that you'll probably never have to experience hell like this.

Yesterday 13th died. RIP.

So sad, I heard this on the news when I was away...As Mr R said, makes you realise how easy your life is and that there are people who go to work and litterally risk their lives to enable people to keep warm and live a comfortable life.

RIP and condolances to the familes and to those that were injured a speedy recovery :(

I feel sorry for these miners, and their families, but feeling sorry isn't going to change anything? I rather promote green technology anywhere I can, so all of these damned mines will be closed one day.

I don't know why I should talk about people I never knew, it doesn't exactly make me feel genuine, but it doesn't mean I don't care. Thank you.

As for me, I would never work in a mine. I know it's hard when you have mouths to feed but still.. Would you jump off a building if it payed? (I mean, enough is enough?) I would rather die outside than to be a slave for a few selfish cowards up in the office who value their money over our lives, and our future..

We have the technology, and there are so many alternatives. I'd say it's almost criminal to postpone and delay this evolution in technology. People are dying out there, and so is our environment.

:(

You clearly have no idea about what it means to be working class. This is not the place for your agenda, have some respect ffs or start a middle-class tree-hugging liberal-leftie thread elsewhere.

I clearly have better ideas about what it means to be working class than you will ever have. Because you don't really care about people having to work in those mines do you? No. Because you call everybody who wants an alternative, so that those mines can be closed, a middle-class, tree-hugging, liberal-leftie.


I have respect, and I care more about working class than you are trying to make it sound, because I'm actually politically active for a working class party. (I'm still an Electrician.)

Oh, and I don't see why I can't address a few issues, while you obviously can. (Have some respect?) Nothing wrong with adressing a few important issues which could very well be the solution, and the prevention of more deadly accidents like these.

Thank you.

When someone comes on a thread like this, and hijacks it in the way you did, it's appropriate to call you up on it - that "green" stuff means nothing to the average industrial worker who sees no way out of their situation, and you know it. And let's face it, the vast majority of lefties are middle-class - most working-class people are too busy struggling to get by to have time to go on "climate change" protests with students who have never worked a day in their life, or to read Marxist philosophy.

I admit, I no longer have a "true" working-class job, but that's because all the "satanic mills" we had round here closed down years ago, but yes, I know exactly what it's like to work in dirty, dangerous conditions (though fortunately not quite as dangerous as mining) because I did it for years - 60-72 hours a ****ing week, and the fact that I was one of the lucky few who found a way out, doesn't change that fact that I had a pretty unpleasant job, and my dad had one which was even more dangerous than mine.

Wanting to close those (quote) "damned mines" is all well and good, but what if the alternative is no better? A lot of people round here would rather have the mines, engineering workshops and textile mills back, because although the new jobs (stacking shelves in supermarkets, packing frozen food, etc) may be safer and healthier, they often barely pay enough to live on. Do you understand why they feel like that? I do.

You are right in some aspects of your post, but this thread was clearly not the place for your green debate, however desirable it may be. People have died because of what they do for a living RIGHT NOW, obviously in a Utopian world there would be no risks, but that's not going to change what happened, and we should respect the victims and not start arguing about it.

It shows how fragile our life is. The workers may have said see you later on the way out, or may have kissed their loved ones before going off to work only to never comeback. R.I.P.


Apparently, there is still a need for the mines to be open and for people to work there, not only in Poland. I just wish that today's technology would be able to detect the gas before it explodes. Not everything can be substituted with green technology, if it ever will.

Sure, but that still doesn't mean we shouldn't discuss possible changes for tomorrow, especially when people's lives are at stake! (Regardless of what type of thread!) This is the internet, and this is not a funeral I'm attending.

Oh, and I've been working with muriatic acids and hydrochloric acids, and have had weeks of 80 hours, including Saturdays. (I've done some seriously messed up work in my life, and I'm definitely sick of how some people get treated!) I do have respect for the victims, understand their situation and their position, and I wasn't looking for an argument. So if I came accross in that way, I'm terribly sorry, but it's because I do care and probably wish I could actually change a few things!

:(


I know for a fact, that Germany is creating a lot of new jobs in this sector, so I guess we'll have to see.

:)

Bravo, I live in the north west and saw what happened when the pits closed! Whole communities died along with them.

As for false sentiments...millions of people didnt know Lady Diana didnt stop them laying flowers...Why should she get any more respect than these men that have lost their lives. This is a Polish forum, where we can pay respect to Polish men who lost their lives!

Please note this:

President Lech Kaczyński is to declare two days of national mourning stating at 06.00 CET Monday morning following Friday’s methane explosion in a colliery in Silesia in which 13 miners died.

Forty miners are still being treated for burns in hospitals in the south of the country - many are in a critical condition.

Twelve miners died on Friday, with another succumbing to his injuries on Saturday bringing the death toll to 13.

from: pl/thenews

Prayers and thoughts for those of the victims and families, I just lost my cousin
on the 17th sept, she died from injuries ( she was ejected from the SUV)
which rolled over off a embankment.

no alcolhol was involved, her father ( chief of police) her sister ( also in the accident)
she is ok, and her mom were all by her side when she died at the hospital.

its never easy, no matter what the cause is.

Bravo? You want the coal mines back?

Fair enough, looks like we agree on something after all. Truce called.


Yes, but they are also putting up "Polen-Invasion stoppen" posters, so I don't imagine many Silesian miners will be getting too excited :)

May God bless the souls of those who have suffered.

I have been praying ...

Truce accepted! I will just sit here and shut up for two minutes..

:)

Coal is a natural resource and has been used for centuries. We live in an age where ways of mining can be made safer for the environment. Its not like we used open cast mining in the UK like in developing countries and it peeves me that we import coal from Poland when we still have it in my own country, which could provide jobs for men.

You don’t live in England, therefore you have no idea of the reality of the devastation it caused to communities when jobs were lost, viable mines were closed, regardless of what we were told!!!!!!!!!!

Simple!

This thread is about men whose lives have been either lost or devastated along with their families; you had no right to come on here with your usual self-righteous crap! Go find a nice PC forum!

Oil is a natural resource too, but ofcourse that doesn't mean it's not destructive to our environment. (Do some research please, because burning coal isn't clean!)


Mining has no future. We will run out of resources eventually, no matter which resource we're talking about. Again, there are cheaper and cleaner alternatives.


I'm an Electrician. I know that coal gets burned to generate electricity. So it doesn't matter in which way you retrieve coal.


I don't have to live in England to have an opinion, just like you don't have to live in Poland to have an opinion. Oh, and let's talk about devastation for a second..


Simple?


I have already acknowledged this twice.


I fail to see how I am being self-righteous, when all I did, was addressing a part of the problem which caused these deaths in the first place. Because? I want people to be aware of the alternatives. Because? I don't like the idea of people dying in coal mines.

So don't make it sound like I'm being completely disrespectful towards anyone. Like I've stated before, this is the internet, and not a funeral ceremony. (I would never divert any attention from someone's beloved at a funeral.) I have every right to address a part of the problem, especially when that part of the problem caused these deaths in the first place.

I respect these people, their relatives and their families, and I'm certainly not interested in bickering in threads like these, or even causing another argument. Oh, and your reply to OsiedleRuda was just another cheapshot at me and you know it!

I'm aware of the fact that I used to talk a lot of crap, thank you. (I still do, but that's called joking!) I fail to see how I'm being self-righteous, and I fail to see how actual facts compare to crap. (Sorry Shell, but you're completely wrong about me.)

I've already payed my respects, have actually been silent for two minutes and even thought of a little prayer. I apologize if this came across as disrespectful, or even rude, because I can assure you that I didn't mean to be.

:)

Yes.

There are many ways to patronise the working class:)

people must remember that Poland is still a third World country. These accidents happen daily in Poland if not underground, then on land too. Plan accidents are very frequent with small aircraft falling out of the sky most days killing at least one or two people.