The five miners missing in the Saturday afternoon explosion at the Uricani mine, southern Romania, have been killed in the blast, said local mayor Danut Buhaescu.  He added rescuers were struggling to bring out the bodies, which have been dismembered in the powerful blast. The five were electricians and were apparently servicing an electric transformer when the explosion occurred.

About 800 miners are employed at the state-owned mine, which is due to be shut down by 2018. Prosecutors have opened an investigation into the accident.

The widows of the five miners killed in a methane explosion Saturday at the coal mine in Uricani, southern Romania, will get jobs at the Natioanl Coal Company CNH, said Labor Minister Ioan Botis.

The minister added Government officials will have a meeting with the victims' families. "I want to assure the families that we are by their side. I come from a family of miners, my father was a miner, it's tragic that such accidents happen but you know as well as I do that such accidents will occur as long as there is mining," Botis said.

Mediafax