Hakan
RETIRED INTL MOD
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Turkish Miners Trapped After Fire Kills at Least Three
Turkey’s emergency services are battling to rescue hundreds of miners trapped underground by a fire that has killed at least three people, according to officials.
Muzaffer Yurttas, a lawmaker for the region from the governing party, told NTV television that at least three miners had died in the town of Soma in the western province of Manisa. Yurttas retracted an earlier statement in which he said at least 20 miners were dead, saying he had been misinformed and the latest information suggested a lower death toll. He said almost 30 people have been rescued from the mine.
Emergency services are trying to evacuate at least 200 more miners who were trapped 2,000 meters (6,600 feet) underground after the fire, and some officials put the figure above 300. District Governor Mehmet Bahattin Atci said the mine’s elevators aren’t functioning as a result of the fire, which he said was caused by an electrical failure.
The mine is owned by Soma Komur Isletmeleri AS, part of the Soma Group. The company said in an e-mailed statement that the cause of the fire is under investigation. It confirmed fatalities from the blaze, without giving details. The company’s office couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.
Soma’s website says that it’s the largest underground coal producer in Turkey, and has interests in real estate including an Istanbul office tower. The company says it produces 250,000 tons of coal a month from the Soma field, which is mostly sold to a local power plant.
Rescuers are trying to dispel smoke in the mine by pumping air in so that the trapped miners can breathe, Tamer Kucukgencay, a local union official, told NTV.
Enough Funerals
Safety conditions at the mines in Soma were discussed in Turkey’s parliament as recently as last month, Hurriyet newspaper cited Ozgur Ozel, a Republican People’s Party lawmaker, as saying. He said a proposal for an inquiry, backed by his party and other opposition groups, was rejected.
“As Manisa’s members of parliament, we’re sick of going to miners’ funerals,” Ozel said, according to Hurriyet.
More than 100 miners have been killed in accidents in Turkey since 2003, according to the official Anadolu news agency. The country’s worst mine accident occurred in 1992, when 263 miners were killed in gas explosion in Kozlu in the northwest.
In March, a group of eight labor and professional organizations published a statement saying that Turkey had the worst record for workplace accidents in Europe, with an average of three workers killed every day, according to Turkiye newspaper.
5 Dead, up to 300 Trapped in Turkish Coal Mine - ABC News
Turkey Miners Trapped After Fire Kills at Least Three - Bloomberg
