A mysterious collapse of 30 cubic meters of slime triggered the tragic accident in Oranovo pit in southwestern Bulgaria at the end of October, which claimed the lives of two miners, an official check showed.

The local office of the Labour Inspectorate found that on the day of the tragedy, October 24, coals were mined as required by official methods of extraction and safety rules.

In Oranovo, coals are extracted from the ceiling after initial underproping of the galleries.

"Mining continued until 1 pm, when the extracted coals were still dry and there were no signs of water and slime", explained Nikolay Mavrodiev, head of the regional Labour Inspectorate.

The collapse of the huge amount of mud is paradoxical in the case, according to Mavrodiev.

"The workers did not have a chance for evacuation", the expert added.

Samples of the slime were sent for analysis to the Bulgarian Institute of Criminology in the search for explanation of the tragedy.

This is the second time that an accident claims lives in Oranovo mine this year after two died and another seven were severely wounded in a blast at the beginning of March.

The pit is still operating as the Inspection found no violation of rules.

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