Two explosions in a coal mine in southwestern Romania killed eight miners and four emergency workers.

Prime Minister Calin Popescu Tariceanu said the explosion that killed the miners in the coal-rich Jiu Valley occurred on Saturday afternoon at a depth of 800 feet.

Later, a second explosion killed four rescue workers.

Officials said about 100 miners were working underground at the time of the first explosion.

Hundreds of relatives gathered at the mine after the first explosion, anxious to find out about the fate of their loved ones.

Tempers soon flared, with the relatives accusing the mine officials of not sharing information with them.

Mine officials said the explosions were believed to have been caused by an accumulation of methane gas and banned anyone from going down the mine for the next 48 hours.

The mine in Petrila in the Jiu Valley employs about 15-hundred miners.

AP