Rescue teams searched on Monday for 19 miners missing after an underground explosion at a coal mine in northern Slovakia, Reuters reported.
The emergency crews were battling zero visibility and temperatures of up to 70 Celsius in the hope of finding the workers, who had been putting out a fire in the Handlova mine when the explosion occurred, the mine owner said.
Hornonitrianske Bane Prievidza, the biggest mining firm in the central European country, said the explosion tore through an unused section of the pit, about 330 metres (1,080 ft) below the surface, at 9.30 a.m. (0730 GMT).
Director Peter Cicmanec told reporters all the missing workers at the mine, some 195 km (120 miles) northeast of the capital Bratislava, were Slovak nationals. Many foreigners, mainly Poles, work in Slovakian mines.
"Most likely the source of the blast was gases left over from imperfect combustion," Cicmanec said.
"The conditions down there are very challenging. There is zero visibility and temperaturee of 60-70."
Cicmanec declined to predict the chances of the miners' survival but said rescue teams had reached 130 metres from the centre of the blast and would soon report on further progress.
But 25-year-old Radoslav, whose father was one of those trapped, said there seemed to be little hope.
"They told us to prepare for the worst," he said.
Nine other miners suffered light injuries and were discharged from hospital after treatment.
Twelve people have been killed in previous mine accidents in Slovakia since December 1997.
Prime Minister Robert Fico and several government ministers were helping organise the rescue effort on site.
A team of psychologists arrived to aid families of the missing miners.
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