Five miners have been flown to Brisbane overnight after suffering serious burns in an underground mine explosion in Central Queensland.
The blast happened at Anglo American's Grosvenor coal mine at Moranbah, south-west of Mackay about 3:00pm yesterday.
The CFMEU said union safety inspectors are attending the site and will undertake a thorough, independent investigation into what caused a possible "ignition of gas on the longwall face".
QAS Operations Manager Doug Buchanan said the men had such extensive injuries, they had to be flown in separate aircraft with doctors and nurses treating them.
He said four of the miners were in a critical condition, while the fifth was serious but stable.
Three are aged in their 40s and two are in their 50s.
They have "significant" upper torso and airway burns.
"Four of the gentlemen required intubation and ventilation," Mr Buchanan said.
The mine is closed today as an investigation into the cause of the blast continues.
Queensland's Chief Inspector of Coal Mines Peter Newman told ABC Radio Brisbane the mine had regular inspections, and his department had been in contact with them in the past month.
When asked if there were any safety concerns at that point he said: "There were".
"As in all inspections undertaken at mine sites, whenever you bring a fresh pair of eyes to an operation there are always either recommendations for improvements in certain aspects of the mine, or a directive in terms of the mine taking particular action."
Mr Newman was reluctant to say whether the safety concerns were the cause of the explosion.
"Until such time that the monitoring and analysis of gas readings determines that there is a safe environment for people to return underground, it's premature for me to speculate what the nature and cause of this incident was," he said.
Mines Minister Anthony Lynham said four mine investigators are at the scene, including the Deputy Chief Inspector of Mines.
"My primary concern is obviously for the injured workers and their families," he said.
"Worker safety is in this government's DNA and I expect a thorough independent investigation by the mine safety regulator."
The CFMEU said it would do everything possible to support a return to safe conditions at the mine and get to the bottom of what occurred.
"Explosions are the worst nightmare for underground coal miners; we will make sure no stone is left unturned."
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2020-05-06 22:26:56Z
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