The Associated Press
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press
 AP Photo/Ulisses Job, Agencia RBS Rescue crews wait outside a coal mine after an explosion in Brazil Monday. Two missing miners are believed to be be trapped and 25 miners were rescued alive with minor injuries. |
SAO PAULO, Brazil — An explosion ripped through a coal mine in southern Brazil on Monday, leaving two workers missing, a fire department official said. Another 25 men inside the mine were rescued with minor injuries.
The explosion occurred early Monday roughly 4 miles (6 kilometers) in from the entrance of a mine owned by Carbonifera Catarinense in the state of Santa Catarina.
“We have been unable to detect any sign of life coming from the area where the two are believed to be trapped by a lack of oxygen and a heavy accumulation of gas, smoke and soot — the same reasons for our slow progress in reaching them,” said Fire Captain Marcos Aurelio Barcellos.
“Some ruptured oxygen pipelines have been repaired and hopefully we will be able to find them alive in a few hours,” he added.
Barcellos said the cause of the explosion was under investigation, but company spokeswoman Joyce Quadros said it could have been sparked by “malfunctioning welding equipment” the two missing miners were using at the time of the accident.