ISTANBUL: A fire in a coal mine in Turkey’s western province of Manisa killed 17 miners yesterday, a local lawmaker said, and rescue workers said as many as 200 more may still be trapped.
“The latest death toll is 17,” an official said.
Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency said 11 injured miners had been recovered from the mine in Soma, around 120 km northeast of the Aegean coastal city of Izmir.
“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,” Tamer Kucukgencay, chairman of the regional labour union, said by telephone.
Energy Minister Taner Yildiz confirmed that a fire had been triggered by an electrical fault and that workers had been killed, but declined to say how many.
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.
Nurettin Akcul, national head of the Turkish Mineworkers’ Union, told CNN Turk television that an unknown number were still trapped after the blast, which he said happened around 2 km below ground.
Mehmet Bahattin Atci, mayor of Soma, a district in 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.
REUTERS
