The death toll from two coal mine accidents in southern Poland last week increased to 13 when another injured miner died Tuesday, according to a doctor.
Dr. Przemyslaw Strzelec said the miner died at the Siemianowice Slaskie hospital, which specialized in treating burns and where 20 other coal mine workers were still being treated for injuries from methane gas blasts.
Seven workers and rescuers were killed by successive blasts at the Pniowek mine near the Czech border on Wednesday and Thursday.
The hunt for seven more people who are still missing has been halted after Thursday’s explosions injured ten rescuers.
Thirteen rescue teams are searching for four missing miners at the nearby Borynia-Zofiowka mine after a tremor and methane gas leak on Saturday. Six miners were killed in the tragedy.
Prosecutors have launched investigations into the mishaps. Jastrzebska Spolka Weglowa, or JSW, operates the mines.
The majority of Polish coal mines are located in southern Silesia, and several of them contain a significant concentration of methane in the rock.
Coal accounts for over 70% of Poland’s energy, a figure that has been strongly criticized by the European Union and environmental groups worried about CO2 emissions and reaching climate change targets.
Poland has been attempting to reduce its reliance on coal. In response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki recently stated that Poland has halted coal shipments from Russia and its ally Belarus.
For years, Poland has been lowering its reliance on Russian energy sources constructed during the Soviet era before 1990, when Poland was Russia’s satellite.
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