Workers attempting to seal underground coal mine as fire burns our of control

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Attempts are being made to seal one of Australia’s largest underground coal mines, as a fire burns out of control. Smoke from the Grosvenor mine is billowing across the small central Queensland town of Moranbah, and there are growing fears about the economic impact.

Transcript

00:00Burning for three days, smoke continues to pour from the underground Grosvenor coal mine

00:08at Moorinbar.

00:09We're blessed the fact that no one was injured.

00:11Methane gas was ignited on Saturday morning.

00:15All workers were safely evacuated from the site, which remains closed.

00:19Look, it's a dynamic situation.

00:21It's going to evolve over the course of the next few days and weeks and months.

00:27Right now our priority is safely bringing that mine under control.

00:30The Grosvenor mine opened in 2016, with an expected lifespan of more than 30 years.

00:38But the mine has a troubled past.

00:40In 2020, a methane explosion left five workers severely burned.

00:46Many are now asking, how could this happen again?

00:50I'm lost for words.

00:52Unfortunately for some of them, this is the second time.

00:55No one should ever experience it once, let alone twice.

00:57Crews are working to seal the mine and smother the underground blaze, a decision which could

01:03put the mine out of operation for a considerable amount of time.

01:07North Kanyala, which is up the road, had a similar event.

01:09It took them nearly four years to get back into that mine, to get back to mining.

01:14There are growing fears the Grosvenor mine may be closed permanently.

01:18Well, this old place will start to feel the real effect of it.

01:22It's not good.

01:23Not good at all, mate.

01:24Very emotional.

01:25I do know that workers are really mourning the idea of this coal mine being sealed permanently.

01:32The safety of the local community is not believed to be at risk from the smoke, with nearby

01:37air quality monitors returning a good reading.

01:41All of the expert advice at the moment is that's not currently a cause for concern.

01:45A community left to monitor the environmental impact, as they wait to see if they'll be

01:51dealt an economic blow.

01:53For more UN videos visit www.un.org

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