A Bosnian miner walks past the entrance to the "Begici" coal mine near the Central-Bosnian city of Kakanj on October 13, 2015, after mining accident. (AFP Photo)
Four miners were killed and two were injured when pit props and rocks fell on them in a coal mine in central Bosnia, officials said today.
"An accident occurred in the night in a mine gallery. Four miners were killed and two were injured, including one seriously," Adib Zekic, a spokesman for the mine in the town of Kakanj, told AFP.
"There were a total of 28 miners in the mine at the time of the accident and all of the survivors were brought to the surface," he said.
An investigation was under way at the site, about 50 kilometres (31 miles) north of Sarajevo, he added.
Mining inspector Ferid Osmanovic said the accident occurred in a new gallery that was being developed 105 metres (344 feet) below ground.
The victims had been working on the construction of a room for a power station when the accident occurred, Osmanovic told a press conference.
One miner only just escaped with his life, leaving the scene moments before the collapse, survivors told reporters.
In September last year, five miners were killed when an earthquake triggered a gas explosion at the Raspotocje mine in Zenica in central Bosnia.
The Balkan country has about a dozen mines, mostly coal and bauxite, and the sector employs between 12,000 and 15,000, according to unions.
The worst mining accident in Bosnia occurred in 1990, when 180 miners were killed in a gas explosion in the Kreka mine near the northeastern city of Tuzla.