Tag: mining accident
Death Toll In Turkish Mine Disaster Climbs To 238

Death Toll In Turkish Mine Disaster Climbs To 238

McClatchy Tribune News Service

ISTANBUL — Hopes that rescue teams would find further survivors in Turkey’s worst mining disaster in more than two decades were fading Wednesday, as the death toll climbed to 238.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited the coal mine in Soma, western Turkey, where desperate friends and relatives had gathered to await news of their loved ones.

He vowed that “all steps will be taken” to investigate the cause of the tragedy, the Hurriyet daily reported.

Labor accidents were “normal,” Erdogan noted at a press conference, but said “the dimension of this accident has deeply moved us.”

Authorities said 787 workers were inside the mine when a blast and subsequent fire occurred on Tuesday.

Dozens were able to escape, but Erdogan said 120 were still trapped inside the pit’s deep tunnels.

“We are moving toward the worst mining disaster in Turkey,” Energy Minister Taner Yildiz said, according to Hurriyet.

Photos showed graves being dug near the mine to bury the dead.

Fresh oxygen continued to be pumped into the mine shafts, but rescue efforts were hampered by the remote location of the incident. The miners were about 1 miles below the surface and 2 1/2 miles from an exit when the blast occurred.

Most of the victims reportedly died as a result of carbon monoxide poisoning. More than 80 miners were wounded.

Authorities believe the fire was reportedly caused by an electrical malfunction.

Local media reported that the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) had rejected a call by the opposition in parliament last month to review safety at the Soma mine.

Mine operator Soma Holding said a safety test had been carried out two months ago.

AFP Photo/Bulent Kilic

At Least Five Dead, Hundreds Trapped In Collapsed Turkey Coal Mine

At Least Five Dead, Hundreds Trapped In Collapsed Turkey Coal Mine

Istanbul (AFP) – At least five miners were killed and as many as 400 others remain trapped underground after an explosion in a coal mine in the western Turkish province of Manisa on Tuesday, officials said.

“We have been informed that five people died and 30 people were rescued,” said Manisa mayor Cengiz Ergun, as rescue workers tried desperately to reach the trapped miners.

An explosion at the mine in Soma district was believed to have been triggered by a faulty electrical transformer at around 12:30 GMT.

Fire officials were trying to pump clean air into the mine shaft for those who remain trapped some two kilometers below the surface and four kilometers from the entrance.

Fire officials said thick smoke was making progress difficult.

An ambulance helicopter was dispatched to the scene, while the general army staff sent a rescue team of 15-20 people, the Anatolia news agency reported.

The miners are all thought to have gas masks, but it was not clear how long they would last.

Local media said there were 580 people trapped in the mine at the time of the explosion but many had escaped. Large crowds of tearful and worried family members gathered near the site.

“I don’t want to give any numbers. Our priority is to reach our workers underground,” Energy Minister Taner Yildiz told journalists before heading to Manisa.

“Four separate rescue teams are currently working in the mine. The fire is creating a problem but oxygen is being pumped into the mine shafts that weren’t affected.”

Manisa lawmaker Muzaffer Yurttas said there were between 300 and 400 people still trapped. Other estimates put the number between 200 and 300.

The office of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said it was “watching the developments closely.”

Vedat Didari, a professor of mining, told AFP that the biggest risk is the loss of oxygen.

“If the ceiling fans are not working, the workers could die within an hour,” said Didari, from the Bulent Ecevit University in the city of Zonguldak.

Explosions and cave-ins are common in Turkey, particularly in private mines where safety regulations are often flouted.

The worst mining accident happened in 1992 when 263 workers were killed in a gas explosion in a mine in Zonguldak.

Soma is one of the key centres for lignite coal mining in Turkey, a district with a population of around 100,000 where the mines and a lignite-fired thermal power plant are the main economic activity.

©afp.com / Yuri Kadobnov