2 of 7 missing coal miners found alive in Polish mine

Two missing coal miners were found hurt but conscious after a tremor struck a mine Saturday in southern Poland, and rescue crews were still trying to reach five other missing miners, a Polish mining company said.

The rescue operation was launched at 11:25 a.m. local time Saturday after a tremor occurred at the Zofiowka coal mine, said Katarzyna Jablonska-Bajer of the Jastrzebie Coal Co. The mine is located in the southern town of Jastrzebie-Zdroj near Poland's border with the Czech Republic.

She said four miners were brought to the surface but contact was lost with seven others who were 2,950 feet underground, preparing a new corridor for extraction work. At first, high methane levels in the mine prevented rescuers from trying to reach the site, but after four hours they began to head there, she said.

Poland's State Mining Authority said the tremor had a magnitude of 3.4 on the Richter scale, while the European Mediterranean Seismological Centre pegged it at 4.3 magnitude. TVN24 said the tremor was also felt on the surface and shook some houses.

"There has never been such a powerful tremor at the mine," she said.

Coal mining is a major industry in Poland and coal remains the main source of energy and heating.