The accident claimed three lives.

Mining has been suspended at the country's only coal mine.

The coal mine's director Marko Mavec: ‘’We have a lot of work ahead of us to rehabilitate this excavation where this happened. We need to decide to maybe finish it early as it was already coming to an end. On other work sites, there is no danger that a similar event could happen.’’

The government declared Friday a day of mourning.

Event organisers are called to adapt the content to reflect the day, while flags at all state institutions will be at half-mast.

Meanwhile, on Friday and Saturday all public events planned in Velenje have been cancelled, while in Šoštanj, that was home to two of the victims, all public events have been called off between Thursday and Sunday.

Foto: TV Slovenija, zajem zaslona