Death toll in Polish explosion up to 15

The death toll from a methane gas explosion at a Polish coal mine last week has reached 15 after another miner died of burns suffered in the accident.

The death toll from a methane gas explosion at a Polish coal mine last week has reached 15 after another miner died of burns suffered in the accident.

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Mariusz Nowak, the director of a hospital in the southern town of Siemianowice Slaskie, said the 46-year-old miner died on Tuesday. The accident took place last Friday at the Wujek-Slask mine in Ruda Slaska. A methane leak set off an explosion 3,450 feet (1,050 meters) below ground.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk's government decided Tuesday to pay 50,000 zlotys ($17,000) each to the families of the dead miners.