Mine explosion injures five people in Australia
06 May 2020
An explosion at a mine in Queensland, Australia injured five workers on May 6. The incident happened at Anglo American’s Grosvenor Coal Mine in Moranbah which is in central Queensland’s Bowen Basin.
Representative image: Shutterstock
Production was halted while paramedics attended the scene. One worker was in a serious condition following the explosion while the four others were in a critical condition having suffered significant burns to their upper bodies and damage to their respiratory systems.
All five workers were transferred to a Brisbane hospital overnight in a complex evacuation which involved multiple planes.
In a statement, Anglo American said that all five workers had been transported to hospital after paramedics attended the scene at the metallurgical coal mine. Anglo added that all production had stopped, and the mine had been evacuated.
Inspectors from the Queensland Mines Inspectorate also attended the scene and opened an investigation into the explosion. The mining union said a gas ignition along the coalface is the most likely cause.
Queensland Ambulance tweeted that paramedics were on the scene treating five patients with significant burns after a reported workplace explosion at 15:14 local time. “Five patients were transported to Moranbah Hospital serious with significant burns. Multiple aeromedical units are responding to coordinate the safe retrieval of all five patients back to Brisbane after the earlier workplace explosion at Moranbah,” Queensland Ambulance also tweeted.