Deaths of eight miners at the Soko mine

Category: Victims of negligence

Period: from 1 Apr 2022

Outcome: Complaint dismissed or proceedings halted (as of 1 Apr 2026)

At the state-owned Soko mine near Sokobanja, part of JP Resavica, a methane outburst suffocated eight miners on 1 April 2022 and injured around twenty others; the dead left behind twelve children. The section of the mine where the accident happened had no permit for mining work, and according to minister Zorana Mihajlović, methane had been above the permitted limit for 22 hours in the two weeks before the accident. Even so, prosecutors dismissed criminal complaints three times, and no one has been held criminally responsible for the miners' deaths; a court awarded the families a million dinars each in compensation.

Methane outburst in the pit

At dawn on 1 April 2022, a methane outburst at the "Soko" brown coal mine near Sokobanja, run by the state-owned Resavica Public Enterprise for Underground Coal Mining, suffocated eight miners from Aleksinac and the surrounding area: Darko Zlatković, Nenad Trivunac, Petar Petrović, Radovan Grujić, Branko Čokorilo, Branislav Zlatanović, Bratislav Živković and Bojan Stajić.

Around twenty miners were injured. The dead left behind twelve children.

Working without approval and too much methane

After the accident, a mining inspector found that the part of the mine where it happened had no approval from the Ministry of Mining and Energy for mining work. Minister Zorana Mihajlović said clear rules had not been followed and that in the two weeks before the accident methane had been above the permitted limit for 22 hours.

According to Insajder, the mine's internal rules allowed more methane than the state's, and that night the machines shut down four times before the outburst.

The prosecutors and “force majeure”

The Prosecutor's Office in Aleksinac nevertheless refused three times to open criminal proceedings: a panel of expert witnesses from the Faculty of Mining and Geology attributed the accident to "force majeure". The Higher Prosecutor's Office in Niš upheld this in 2024, and the families' constitutional appeal has been awaiting a decision ever since. The pit manager at the time of the accident went on to become the mine's director.

Compensation and a fine for a commercial offence

No one has been held criminally accountable for the miners' deaths. In March 2026, the court in Aleksinac awarded the families a million dinars each in damages, and in May 2026 the Commercial Court in Kragujevac penalised "Resavica" and two directors for a commercial offence in a ruling that is not final, because the mine had operated without approval.

The case recalls the explosion in Lučani, where an indictment was filed only after almost two years.

Participants

Public enterprise for underground coal mining “Resavica”: Penalised at first instance because the "Soko" mine, where eight miners suffocated, operated for 14 months without approval for its works (responsible)
Saša Spasić: Fined at first instance as acting director of Resavica because the Soko mine was operating without approval for mining works at the time of the accident (responsible)
Marko Vuković: Fined at first instance as acting director of Resavica because the Soko mine was operating without approval for mining works at the time of the accident (responsible)
Marko Konatar: He was pit manager at the time of the accident and was promoted to mine director in 2024; he did not respond to journalists (commented on the case)
Basic Public Prosecutor's Office in Aleksinac: It dismissed criminal complaints over the deaths of eight miners three times, so as of 2026 no one had been held criminally accountable for the accident (responsible)
Higher Public Prosecutor's Office in Niš: In late March 2024 it rejected the families' objection, leaving in force the decision that no one was responsible for the accident (responsible)
Faculty of Mining and Geology, University of Belgrade: It concluded that the accident could be attributed to force majeure (investigation and courts)
Basic Public Prosecutor's Office in Niš: It filed an indictment for a commercial offence because part of the mine was being worked without approval (investigation and courts)
Commercial Court in Kragujevac: It convicted the company and two of its directors of a commercial offence at first instance; the verdict is not final (investigation and courts)
Commercial Appellate Court: It is ruling on the appeal against the verdict that fined the company and the directors at first instance (investigation and courts)
Basic Court in Aleksinac: It awarded one million dinars each for the miners' deaths to their 24 closest relatives (investigation and courts)
Constitutional Court of the Republic of Serbia: As of April 2026 it had not ruled on the families' constitutional appeal over the right to a fair trial (investigation and courts)
Ministry of Mining and Energy of the Republic of Serbia: The inspectorate found work without approval, and the ministry filed a complaint against 14 people (oversight and the public)
Zorana Mihajlović: She said the miners had suffocated on methane and that the rules had not been followed, and announced a complaint (oversight and the public)
Jovanka Atanacković: She justified the complaint by saying the works had been carried out on faulty and invalid documentation (oversight and the public)
Zorica Vukadinović: She found that part of the mine had no approval for the works (oversight and the public)
Bratislav Stojanović: He claims the staff on duty did not bring the miners out; he sought a parliamentary inquiry committee and filed an appeal and a lawsuit (oversight and the public)
National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia: Did not respond to a request by the families' lawyer in spring 2023 to set up a commission of inquiry into the accident (commented on the case)
Dubravka Đedović Handanović: Said that “the court has had its say” and that she does not comment on the decision, and in 2025 that the conditions for reopening were being assessed (commented on the case)
Government of the Republic of Serbia: The day after the accident, it set aside eight million dinars in aid for the families of the miners who were killed (commented on the case)

Victims and others harmed

Branko Čokorilo
Bojan Stajić
Bratislav Živković
Branislav Zlatanović
Petar Petrović
Darko Zlatković
Nenad Trivunac
Radovan Grujić
Saša Dimitrijević
Dragana Stajić: Wife of Bojan Stajić, who was killed in the accident