Warsaw - Twelve miners were killed and some 16 were hospitalized with burns after a fire in the KWK Wujek Slask coal mine in southern Poland, local media reported Friday. Fifteen miners were seriously injured, news broadcaster TVN 24 reported.
The fire was believed to be caused by methane leaks in the mine in Ruda Slaska, near the city of Katowice. Some 38 miners were in the area at the time of the fire.
Twenty-nine of the workers managed to climb up to the surface, while the rest were freed by rescuers, the Polish Press Agency PAP reported.
