of the Autonomous Directorate of Oil, Benone Costinaș, were assaulted in the Petrosani town hall. A group of miners then went to the Petrosani train station, where they demanded and were refused the use of trains for the miners to travel to Bucharest. 25 September On the morning of September 25, around 10.00 am, the miners from the Jiu Valley arrived at Băneasa railway station on several trains. Upon hearing the news that the miners were heading to the capital, the Prime Minister and President Ion Iliescu unsuccessfully tried several maneuvers to prevent them from reaching their destination. Led by the miners' union leader, Miron Cozma, the first stop was made in Victoriei Square, where the miners asked for a meeting with Prime Minister Petre Roman. When he did not appear, they asked for his resignation. Roman then agreed and met with a delegation of miners. Cornel Tomescu, head of the sector within the General Secretariat of the Government, said that upon arrival in Victoria Square, the miners were not violent. "The miners were calm, they did not shout slogans to the Government or the president and they were sitting on the caldera." During this period, altercations with counter-protesters and security forces broke out. A Government building was attacked by some groups, leading to the evacuation of the building. In the evening, the miners, led by Cozma, headed towards the Romanian Television and University Square. They then went to the Cotroceni Palace to discuss with President Ion Iliescu the conditions under which they were willing to withdraw. Cozma demanded the dismissal of Prime Minister Roman in exchange for a cessation of the miners' protest. 26 September On September 26, the miners attacked the Government building with new forces and called for the Government to be dismissed. Representatives of the miners met for private talks with government officials. Miron Cozma threatened that if by 12:00 PM the resignation of the prime minister was not announced, he would call 40,000 trade unionists from Pipera, adding that probably no one wants a civil war. At 12:00, Alexandru Bârlădeanu, the president of the Senate, announced on the public television the dismissal of the Romanian Government. The mining union leader asks the miners to go home because their claims have been resolved. In the afternoon of that day, the miners entered the Assembly Hall of the Assembly of Deputies and requested the resignation of President