WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Three miners have been killed in a tremor that hit a coal mine in southern Poland. Six others have been hospitalized.

Tomasz Glogowski, spokesman for Mining Group, a company in Katowice, said the tremor hit shortly after 2 p.m. local time Monday some 720 meters (2,362 feet) underground at the Murcki-Staszic mine.

Glogowski said that three of the nine miners who were working in that zone died while three others managed to escape and the remainder were carried to the surface. The six survivors were hospitalized.

Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has decided to grant special pensions for the families of the victims.

Despite steps toward phasing out coal extraction, the industry remains one of Poland's major employers and its major energy source.