At least 28 miners die in a mine accident in northern Turkey. Several more deaths are feared. Finally, 49 miners are missing, they are said to be trapped in tunnels hundreds of meters deep. “We are presented with a really sad picture,” said the interior minister.
After the mining accident in northern Turkey that killed at least 28 people, the rescue operation continued for dozens of other miners. Eleven buddies were recovered alive and are being treated in the hospital, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said. According to Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu, 49 miners are still missing. An explosion occurred in the mine in the Black Sea city of Amasra on Friday evening.
“Our wish is that the loss of life does not get any higher and that our miners can be saved,” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Twitter. This Saturday he wants to visit the scene of the accident.
The search for the 49 missing continued throughout the night. Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said they were trapped in two tunnels at a depth of 300 meters and 350 meters when he visited the scene of the accident with Energy Minister Fatih Donmez. “It’s a really sad picture for us.” Hundreds of people gathered near the pit entrance, many of them crying.
According to the local authorities, more than 70 emergency services managed to get about 250 meters deep into the mine. However, it is unclear whether they can advance further to the trapped miners. “Almost half of the workers could be extracted,” said the mayor of Amasra, Recai Cakir, the Turkish broadcaster NTV. “Most of them are fine, but there are also seriously injured.”
Energy Minister Dönmez said that according to initial findings, a firedamp explosion occurred in the mine due to the ignition of methane gas. The Turkish civil protection authority Afad initially said that a defective transformer had triggered the explosion. The agency later retracted that statement, saying the mine ignited methane gas for “unknown reasons.”
“I don’t know what happened,” the Turkish news agency Anadolu quoted a miner who was able to leave the pit unharmed on his own. “There was a sudden pressure and I couldn’t see anything.” Local prosecutors said the incident was being treated as an accident and launched an official investigation.
It is not the first accident of this kind. In May 2014, Turkey experienced the worst mining accident in its history. 301 miners died in the accident at the mine in Soma in the west of the country. The tragedy sparked protests against the government of then Prime Minister Erdogan. Five pit officials were sentenced to prison terms, the maximum being 22 years and six months.