A second miner has been confirmed dead as rescuers continue to search for three others still trapped some 900 metres underground after a tremor in a southern Polish coal mine.

Candles were lit outside the mine where three miners are still trapped following the quake on Saturday. Photo: PAP/Andrzej Grygiel

The dead miner was identified by colleagues and family after reaching the surface on Sunday, said Daniel Ozon, the CEO of Jastrzębska Spółka Węglowa, which owns the Zofiówka coal mine.

The identity of another victim, who was found earlier on Sunday, is yet to be confirmed.

Three other men are yet to be found after the quake on Saturday caused the tunnel they were working in to collapse.

Meanwhile, Poland's State Mining Authority is expected on Monday to set up a commission to probe the collapse and the rescue mission.

Some 200 rescuers worked in two tunnels in search of the miners, braving high temperatures, a lack of oxygen, and high levels of methane in the mine.

About 250 miners were underground when the quake hit the mine on Saturday.

Two missing miners have since been found alive. They sustained non-life threatening injuries and were undergoing treatment in a local hospital, along with two colleagues who had managed to make their way out of the mine unaided.

Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki visited the survivors on Saturday evening.

Polish President Andrzej Duda visited all four men in the hospital on Sunday, according to public broadcaster Polish Radio's IAR news agency.

The quake – which measured 3.4 on the Richter scale, according to Poland's State Mining Authority – occurred at around 11 am on Saturday and was also felt on the surface in areas far from the mine, according to reports.

It was the strongest quake to hit the mine since 1989, according to Reuters. (vb/pk)

Source: PAP