How an award-winning investigation turned tragedy into a powerful narrative podcast
When journalists Stefan Marković and Jovana Tomić began investigating the fatal accident at the Serbian coal mine “Soko,” which occurred in 2022, they did not plan to produce a narrative podcast. The accident, caused by a sudden and uncontrolled release of methane inside the mine, left eighteen people injured and claimed the lives of eight miners.
The podcast format emerged gradually, shaped by the reporting itself and the need to tell a complex story with both technical depth and human sensitivity, and would later earn them second prize at the EU Investigative Journalism Awards 2025 for Serbia.
From documents to human stories
The investigation started with Marković’s colleague Jovana Tomić, who immediately began requesting official documentation from courts and prosecutors, maps, expert reports, and records showing where miners were positioned at the time of the accident. Like many mining disasters, the tragedy was initially reduced to numbers in the media.
“You see it reported as statistics,” Marković says. “It’s tragic, but distant. You think: “It’s a dangerous job, accidents happen.”
That distance disappeared once the team began interviewing families. One conversation, with a woman who had given birth just a month before her husband was killed, marked a turning point.
“It hit me hard,” Marković says. “I didn’t even know what to ask.”
Discovering the audio evidence
Although the interviews were recorded without a clear plan for publication, the project took shape when the journalists obtained audio recordings from inside the mine. The tapes captured miners communicating with the operations center shortly before the methane outbreak.
The team structured the podcast as a series of self-contained episodes, each addressing a specific aspect of the case. At the same time, doubts about the official explanation began to grow.
Questioning the “Force Majeure” narrative
Authorities insisted the accident was caused by force majeure, but several details raised red flags. One was how quickly the official expert assessment was completed. Another was that the mine shaft had been operational for only about 15 days before the accident.
“We kept asking one question – could this have been prevented?” Marković says.
By the end of the investigation, the answer was clear.
“In the end, we did conclude that it could have.”
Ethics, emotion, and responsibility
Reporting on grieving families carried a heavy emotional burden. Interviews often lasted several hours and followed the families’ stories from everyday life to loss and its aftermath.
“You can’t turn emotions off,” Marković says. “You can stay professional, but you carry it with you.”
The idea was to bring listeners closer to these people, he explains, not to expose painful details that add nothing to understanding.
The technical failure no one wanted to explain
The greatest challenge was finding an independent expert willing to analyse the technical documentation. Many refused, citing professional ties within the mining sector.
“It’s a closed circle,” Marković says.
Eventually, the team reached a mining engineer with international experience who identified a critical failure. It showed that when methane triggered an automatic power shutdown, the ventilation system also shut down, leaving miners without oxygen.
“That should never have happened,” Marković says. “They would have had a much greater chance to survive.”
Impact beyond institutions
Institutions did not reopen the case. Families, however, responded differently.
“It meant a lot to them to finally tell their story, and to have someone clearly explain what happened.”
For Marković, the award represents more than recognition for one investigation.
“I see it as recognition for narrative investigative podcasts,” he says. “Someone listened and said: this matters.”
The Soko mine podcast demonstrated that serious investigative journalism can be both rigorous and deeply human, and that telling such stories well can still make a difference.
Hear more about the process in the video below.
