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Turkey mine: Accident traps workers underground | |
(about 1 hour later) | |
At least 18 workers have been trapped underground after an accident at a coal mine in southern Turkey, officials say. | |
An area of the pit in Ermenek, Karaman province, was flooded with water while miners were working. The miners are said to be stuck 300m (980ft) underground. | |
More than 20 miners had been rescued, Karaman Governor Murat Koca said. | |
Turkey suffered its worst mining disaster earlier this year, when a fire killed 301 workers at a mine in Soma. | |
A mine official told Turkish media the trapped workers' chances of survival were slim unless they had managed to reach a safety gallery. | A mine official told Turkish media the trapped workers' chances of survival were slim unless they had managed to reach a safety gallery. |
Sahin Uyar also said the rescuers had yet to make contact with the miners. | Sahin Uyar also said the rescuers had yet to make contact with the miners. |
Turkey's emergency management agency, AFAD, said a broken pipe in the mine caused the flooding, the Associated Press news agency reported. | |
Energy Minister Taner Yildiz and Transport Minister Lutfi Elvan are heading to the mine to oversee the operation. | |
The deaths at Soma in May raised questions about safety standards in Turkish mines, with hundreds of miners killed since 2000. | The deaths at Soma in May raised questions about safety standards in Turkish mines, with hundreds of miners killed since 2000. |
Anti-government protests also followed the disaster, with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, then prime minister, under fire for what demonstrators saw as an insensitive response to the deaths. | Anti-government protests also followed the disaster, with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, then prime minister, under fire for what demonstrators saw as an insensitive response to the deaths. |