Warsaw, Sep 18 (DPA) Twelve miners were killed and some 16 were hospitalised with burns after a fire in the KWK Wujek Slask coal mine in southern Poland, media reports said Friday.

Fifteen miners were seriously injured, TVN 24news broadcaster reported.

The fire was believed to have been caused by methane leaks in the mine in Ruda Slaska, near the city of Katowice. Some 38 miners were in the area at the time of the fire.

Twenty-nine of the workers managed to climb up to the surface, while the rest were freed by rescuers, the Polish Press Agency PAP reported.