White Roses Day commemorates victims of mining disasters

The victims of mining tragedies were commemorated in the mining town of Handlova in Trencin region on Saturday evening on the occasion of Mining Accidents Victims Day and White Roses Day.

An explosion in a Handlova mine (Trencin region) on August 10, 2009 claimed the lives of nine miners and 11 mine rescuers, making it the biggest accident in the history of Slovak mining.

Several politicians honoured the victims of mining accidents in Handlova. "Mining was and is one of the most difficult and dangerous professions we have in Slovakia. Miners work day in and day out, risking their own lives so that the whole society can benefit from their toil, and for that they deserve thanks," Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok (Hlas-SD) stated in his speech. The sacrifice of the miners, he said, also reminds us how much their work is worth, although the price of human lives lost in mines is incalculable.

Source: TASR