PPC plays down impact of lignite mine collapse

Public Power Corporation (PPC) is playing down the impact of a huge landslide at a lignite mine in the region of Kozani, in western Macedonia, which forced the evacuation of a nearby village.

The president of the state-run company, Emmanouil Panagiotakis, said on Monday that many accounts of the impacts of the Amyntaio mine collapse, which shifted some 80 million cubic meters of earth, on Saturday have been exaggerated.

At the same time, he pointed out that PPC will provide the condemned village's 182 inhabitants with all possible economic support, while the government proceeds to their immediate relocation, the cost of which will be covered equally by PPC and the state.

The mine was shut down on June 3 amid stability concerns, but PPC officials did not expect a collapse of this magnitude. Also in a statement on Monday, the Culture Ministry said that excavations...