Bulgarian Govt Offers Assistance to Dead Miners' Families

Relatives and locals are flocking to the mine in southwestern Bulgaria where the dead bodies of two miners were found early Friday morning. Photo by BGNES

The Bulgarian State will offer assistance in the amount of BGN 10 000 each to the families of the two miners whose bodies were found inside the collapsed Oranovo mine in southwestern Bulgaria.

They will receive an additional BGN 365 as one-time assistance from a different fund.

The decree for the above is being prepared now by the Ministry of Social Policy and Labor.

In such cases, Bulgarian labor unions usually take care of the children and provide stipends.

The mine's manager, Valeri Manov, said earlier that the miners had insurance and the money will be given to the families. The mine will also pay for the funerals.

The dead bodies of Miners Ivan Lazarov, 35, and Nikolay Mihaylov, 42, who were trapped 450 meters below the surface underneath an avalanche of mud, rocks and water since July 16 when the mine collapsed, were found early Friday morning.

Two other miners, Asen Stoynev, 41, and Hristo Mladenov, 45, died in the collapse as well, but their bodies were discovered on the very same day.

On Thursday, one miner died inside the mine from an apparent heart attack.

This is the fourth major accident there in the past eight years. Union leaders said the reason for the collapse was poor safety standards.

The mine is located about 2 km from the town of Simitli, which declared 3-day mourning.