• Thursday, 19 December 2024

At least 28 dead in Turkish mine blast, search on for survivors

At least 28 dead in Turkish mine blast, search on for survivors
At least 28 people are dead and 11 more injured after a coal mine explosion in northern Turkey, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca tweeted on Saturday. Broadcaster NTV showed footage of teams from the Turkish Red Crescent and disaster authority AFAD joining efforts to rescue at least 15 trapped in the state-run mine, more than 15 hours after the blast. Smoke fumed into the air from the mine. A fire is suspected to be still ongoing, NTV said. A total of 58 have been rescued at the mine in the Black Sea province Bartın's Amasra district, Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu separately said, according to state news agency Anadolu. A suspected blast of coal mine gases occurred at around 6:15 pm (1515 GMT) on Friday, some 300 metres below the surface, Energy Minister Fatih Dönmez earlier said. A total of 110 workers were at the mine at the time of explosion, 49 of whom were in the deeper parts of the mine, where the risk is greater, according to authorities. The exact cause of the blast was still unclear. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is expected to visit the site, some 300 kilometres north of capital Ankara, on Saturday. Turkey has a bleak record of mine accidents. In 2014, 301 people were killed in a coal mine blast in the Aegean province of Manisa.