29 rescued 5 still missing in Bosnia mine collapse

ZENICA, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Twenty-nine miners have been rescued while five remain trapped in part of a Bosnian mine that collapsed after a 3.5 magnitude earthquake hit the region Thursday night. 

"We can not officially say anything about the state of the five missing miners. We cannot officially give information that people are injured or killed until the miners are found" said Esad Civic, director of the mine Raspotocje in Zenica, a Bosnian town 53 km northwest of Sarajevo, the capital.

Civic also confirmed that the 29 miners who were rescued from the collapsed mine were in good health without any serious injuries.

Officials from a local hospital in Zenica confirmed that 15 miners were taken to the medical facility so far.

There were reportedly 56 workers who were inside the mine when the collapsed occurred and 22 of them were able to escape. 

The Zenica coal mine was the site of one of the greatest mining tragedies in the Bosnian history when 39 miners were killed in a gas explosion in 1982.

www.aa.com.tr/en