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Turkey mine explosion leaves 200 trapped underground Turkey mine explosion leaves several dead and 300 trapped underground
(about 1 hour later)
More than 200 people are trapped underground after an explosion and fire at a coal mine in western Turkey that has killed one miner, officials said. A fire in a coal mine in Turkey's western province of Manisa has killed 20 miners, a local lawmaker said, and rescue workers said as many as 300 more may still be trapped.
Mehmet Bahattin Atci, a regional administrator, said 20 people were rescued from the mine in the town of Soma, in the province of Manisa, about 155 miles (250 km) south of Istanbul. One later died in hospital. MP Muzaffer Yurttas told broadcaster NTV that the bodies of 20 workers, believed to have died from suffocation and burns, had been retrieved from the mine in the town of Soma, and that at least another 20 workers had been taken to hospital.
He said the explosion was caused by a power distribution unit. Between 200 – 300 more workers are still inside the mine. "Rescue efforts are underway," Atci told reporters. Tamer Kucukgencay, chairman of the regional labour union, said: "They are pumping oxygen into the mine, but the fire is still burning. They say it is an electrical fault but it could be that coal is burning as well."
The broadcaster NTV said the accident occurred about 2km deep inside the mine. Turkey's energy minister, Taner Yildiz, said that a fire had been triggered by an electrical fault and that workers had been killed, but declined to say how many.
Tamer Kucukgencay, the head of a mining trade union for the region, told the state-run Anadolu news agency that fresh air was being pumped into the mine. The blast happened during a change in shifts, leading to uncertainty over the exact number of workers still in the mine, labour union officials said.
Journalists were being kept away from the site but a witness told the TV station that ambulances were entering and leaving the area. Nurettin Akcul, national head of the Turkish Mineworkers' Union, told CNN Turk that an unknown number were still trapped after the blast, which he said happened around 2 km below ground.
Rescue teams from neighboring areas were being sent and Turkey's energy minister, Taner Yildiz, was on his way to oversee the operation, NTV reported. Mehmet Bahattin Atci, mayor of Soma, in the province of Manisa, said 200-300 workers were still inside following the explosion. The head of the local fire service also told Turkish television that around 300 workers were still trapped.
Mining accidents are common in Turkey, which is plagued by poor safety conditions. Turkey's worst mining disaster was a 1992 gas explosion that killed 270 workers near the Black Sea port of Zonguldak.Mining accidents are common in Turkey, which is plagued by poor safety conditions. Turkey's worst mining disaster was a 1992 gas explosion that killed 270 workers near the Black Sea port of Zonguldak.