Quake traps 34 miners in Bosnia cave-in

Thirty four miners remain trapped inside a Bosnian coal mine after an earthquake triggered a gas explosion and caved in two tunnels.

"Of 56 miners that were in the mine, 22 made it back to the surface and 34 are still in the affected zone," said Esad Civic, manager at the Raspotocje mine in the town of Zenica.

"We are communicating with them. They are doing well and have enough clean air to wait for the arrival of rescue teams."

He said two tunnels had collapsed. Earlier reports said only eight people were trapped.

The miners are in a tunnel that was not affected by the gas explosion, around 600 metres underground, according to union leader Mehmed Oruc.

Two miners were injured in the blast and have been taken to hospital in Zenica.

A 3.5-magnitude quake hit 53km northwest of the capital Sarajevo today, national BHRT television reported.

No other major damage was reported from the earthquake.