(ANSA-AFP) - LJUBLJANA, JAN 21 - At least one miner died and
two others are missing after water and silt flooded a coal mine
in Slovenia, authorities said Tuesday. Rescue teams continued
their search after the accident late Monday at the Premogovnik
Velenje mine, around 75 kilometres (45 miles) northeast of the
capital Ljubljana. "When the flooding happened there were 14
people working in the mine. Three of them did not leave the mine
and were missing" before a first body was recovered overnight,
the mine said. "The chances for finding them alive are slim,"
the mine's director Marko Mavec was quoted as saying by the STA
news agency. An investigation into the cause of the accident has
been opened but the mine said in its statement that "despite all
security measures such events cannot be predicted". It was the
first deadly accident at the Velenje coal mine since 2003, when
two miners were killed. Prime Minister Robert Golob is expected
to travel to the mine later Tuesday. (ANSA-AFP).
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