POOR geological conditions and violations of occupational safety rules are to blame for a fatal mine accident in Nováky last year, an investigation into the accident concluded.
The District Mining Office in Prievidza announced the results of its investigation on October 26, the Sme daily wrote.
Four miners were killed in a cave-in in the Baňa Nováky mine in west-central Slovakia on November 16, 2006. The accident also destroyed heavy mining equipment.
But the head of the investigation commission, mining office chair Bohuš Sliacky, said it is impossible to say if a failure to follow the rules directly caused the accident.
The question is whether the workers should have been temporarily removed from the risky work place - the cave-in would have still happened, but it would not have claimed human lives, he said.
These questions will be settled in an official-level investigation between the district office and the Hornonitrianske Bane mining company.