18 workers trapped underground at Polish mine after earthquake

A rescue operation was underway after an earthquake caused a copper mine in Poland to cave in, trapping eighteen workers underground, mine operator KGHM said on Wednesday (March 20).

The miners were trapped 600 metres (yards) below ground at the Rudna mine, about 400 km (249 miles) southwest of the Polish capital, KGHM spokesman Dariusz Wyborski said.

"There was a quake in the Rudna mine," Wyborski said.

"The rescue operation is difficult because huge amounts of rocks have to be removed."

The mine is in the Silesia region, near Poland's borders with Germany and the Czech Republic. It has been in operation since 1974. The operator, state-controlled KGHM, is Europe's second-biggest copper producer.

Poland has large numbers of mines, mostly in the heavily industrialised Silesia region. In 2006, a gas explosion at a coal mine in the region killed 23 miners.