WARSAW (Reuters) - Nine miners are missing after an earth tremor struck KGHM Polska Miedz's mine near the Polish town of Rudna, 70 miles east of the German border, the copper producing company said on Twitter on Tuesday.
Earlier KGHM spokesperson Anna Osadczuk told Reuters the miners were missing after the tremor hit the mine early this afternoon 770 meters under the earth's surface.
"A rescue operation is ongoing. Eleven teams of rescuers are taking part in it. It is hard to say now how long it will take," Osadczuk told Reuters. Seven people have already been taken to hospital.
In 2016, eight miners died after a tremor caused rockfalls deep underground at the mine, which is Europe's largest copper mine.
(Reporting by Wojciech Zurawski, Writing by Marcin Goclowski. Editing by Jane Merriman)