3 Polish miners die after tremor causes massive cave-in

Three miners have been killed in a tremor that hit a coal mine in southern Poland and six others have been hospitalised.

Tomasz Glogowski, spokesman for the Polish Mining Group, or PGG, a company in Katowice, said the quake occurred shortly after 2 pm local time Monday some 720 meters (2,362 feet) underground at the Murcki-Staszic mine, causing a massive cave-in. The quake's magnitude was 2.66 on the Richter scale.

Glogowski told The Associated Press that three of the nine miners who were working in that zone died while three others managed to escape and the remainder were carried to the surface.

The six survivors were hospitalised.

He said that mining experts and investigators were investigating the cause of the accident.

Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has decided to grant special pensions for the families of the victims.

Despite steps toward phasing out coal extraction, the industry remains one of Poland's major employers and its major energy source.

However, it is prone to accidents. So far this year, 16 miners have been killed in Poland's coal, lignite and copper mines.