An explosion occurred at the Mindeli coal mine in the Georgian town of Tkibuli, which killed a miner. This is reported by Mtavari TV channel and Novosti-Gruzia.
The explosion occurred in the evening of January 30.
"There was an incident. Now our labor guards came to the mine, they are finding out what happened. We don't know exactly what happened yet. It remains to be clarified, but as far as I know, five or six people are injured. One man in particular was hurt badly and unfortunately died. The rest of the injured have light injuries," Gvantsa Delibadze, head of PR service of Gruzugol said.
As it was noted, 10 people were injured, two of them are in a serious condition. One of the injured died in hospital.
According to the head of the burn center of the University Hospital after Khechinashvili Gugi Kashishishvili, the head of the center is dead. Khechinashvili Gugi Kashibadze, the miners injured in the Mindeli mine accident were presumably injured as a result of a methane explosion.
"Eight miners were taken to our center at dawn. They are believed to have sustained various injuries as a result of the methane explosion. Three people were admitted to the burn and intensive care unit, the condition of one of them is particularly severe. He has 60% of his body affected, which is exacerbated by respiratory tract damage and ongoing shock. At this stage everyone's condition is stable," Kashibadze said.
The Interior Ministry of Georgia told Channel One that it has launched an investigation under Article 240 of the Criminal Code of Georgia, which provides for violations of safety rules during mining, construction or other types of work.
According to the Labor Inspection Service, the cause of the explosion at the Tkibul mine on January 30, according to preliminary data, was a violation of safety rules during blasting operations.
"According to initial estimates, during the explosion, the concentration of methane in the air exceeded the permissible standard. According to the current regulation, drilling and blasting operations are prohibited when the concentration of methane exceeds 1%. The second paragraph of the technical regulation, according to which blasting operations must be carried out under the direct supervision of a technical supervisor, was also violated. The mentioned person was not on site at the time of the accident," said the inspection.
According to the decision of the service, blasting work at the site of the tragedy has been stopped. The final report will be published by a team of labor inspectors after the investigation is completed.
