ISTANBUL – An explosion inside a coal mine in northern Turkey has killed at least 28 workers and trapped more than a dozen others inside, where the fire is still burning, officials said today. Saturday.
Friday night’s explosion inside a state-owned mine in the town of Amasra near the Black Sea coast was the worst landmine disaster in Turkey in years. Officials said it appeared to be caused by gas combustion inside the mine.
Pictures from the scene taken by local journalists show crowds of distressed residents, rescuers and miners wearing hard hats gathering at the scene, some tending to the injured being taken out. Outside, the others are waiting for their remaining colleagues to be rescued.
Health Minister Fahrettin Koca wrote on Twitter that 28 miners who were killed and 11 rescued from the mines had been hospitalized nearby or in Istanbul.
The Energy Minister, Fatih Donmez, told reporters at the scene that 110 miners were inside the mine at the time of the explosion and 15 were still trapped there, where a fire was still burning. .
Rescue teams are working to clear carbon monoxide from the mine so they can reach trapped workers safely, Mr.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is expected to visit the site on Saturday.
Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu told reporters on Friday that the explosion happened at a depth of about 300 meters and there were 49 miners nearby.
In Turkey’s worst landmine disaster, 301 people died in coal mine fire in the town of Soma, in the western part of the country, in 2014. After that, the damage was so great that it took four days to get all the bodies out of the mine. The disaster led to accusations from miners and their families that the operator had neglected safety measures to make the mine profitable.
Safak Timur contribution report.
