Twelve die in Polish mine explosion

A methane leak exploded and killed 12 coal miners in a Polish pit today.

The blast was 3,450 feet underground at the mine in the south-western city of Ruda Slaska.

Some of the miners were killed immediately and others died later of burns.

Another 15 miners were seriously injured.

The explosion is the country’s most serious mining accident since a methane accident killed 23 at the Halemba mine in November 2006.

In June 2008 five miners were killed in a methane explosion in a shaft nearly 3,000 feet underground near the town of Jastrzebie Zdroj.