OREANDA-NEWS At least eight miners were killed and about 20 others were injured as a result of a collapse at a coal mine in the vicinity of the Serbian town of Soko Banja, the RTS TV channel reports. According to it, the emergency occurred at about 5:00 local time, nearby medical centers sent their teams to the scene.

«Nearby medical centers have sent their teams to help, the victims are being taken to the hospital in the city of Aleksinac», said Rodolyub Zhivadinovich, director of the polyclinic in Aleksinac.

He added that the victims were mostly diagnosed with minor injuries. Now there are 18 wounded miners in the hospital in Aleksinets – 15 with minor injuries, two with elbow injuries and one with a fracture of five ribs.

At the time of the emergency, there were about 50 miners in the mine. According to the Serbian newspaper Vecernje novosti, the cause of the collapse was presumably a methane explosion.