02 February 2026
An explosion at a coal mine in southern Poland killed two workers on 23 December. The incident happened at a coal mine in Pniówek, around 217 miles (350km) southwest of Warsaw, operated by Jastrzebska Spólka Weglowa (JSW).
Pniówek coal mine – Image: JSWIn a statement, JSW said that a rescue operation was conducted at the Pniówek mine following an explosion at around 17:00 local time in the N-9 working face at a depth of 890 metres. Rescue workers entered the mine to search for two missing workers with whom contact had been lost shortly after the blast.
Ten miners were in the mine at the time of the incident with eight of them managing to escape by themselves. The rescue operation to find the remaining two workers involved a total of 10 rescue teams.
After seven hours, rescue workers reached the two missing miners however a doctor pronounced them dead at the scene. Both miners were experienced workers with many years of service, JSW said. The company added that the circumstances of the incident are being investigated by the Regional Mining Authority in Rybnik and the mine’s OHS services.
Initial reports suggest the explosion involved a build-up of methane. The Polish Press Agency (PAP) said that the deaths brought the number of mining fatalities in Poland for 2025 to 15.
The accident follows another explosion at the Pniówek mine in 2022 when a methane explosion occurred at a depth of 1,000 metres. A total of 42 workers were affected with some becoming trapped. Two miners died in the blast while another two later died of their injuries in hospital. A further 19 workers were injured.
While rescue efforts were being conducted at the Pniówek mine in 2022, a separate incident occurred at another JSW facility – the Borynia-Zofiowka mine. The incident happened at a depth of 900 metres and trapped 10 workers underground. After extensive search and rescue efforts, the bodies of all 10 miners were discovered.