Turkey Coal Mine Disaster Leaves 17 Dead, Hundreds Trapped

Soma: At least 17 miners were killed and more than 200 remain trapped underground after an explosion in a coal mine in the western Turkish province of Manisa on Tuesday, officials said.

Turkey's disaster and management agency AFAD in its latest report also said there were at least 1l miners injured.

Rescue workers are trying desperately to reach the scores of trapped miners and have managed to evacuate around 50, a security source told AFP.

The source said there are two air pockets in the mine, one of which was open so rescuers were able to reach the workers, but the second was blocked with workers trapped inside.

An explosion at the mine in Soma district was believed to have been triggered by a faulty electrical transformer at around 1230 GMT.

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Hundreds of people, mostly from the mining company, were gathered around the explosion site as rescuers brought out wounded workers, who were having difficulty breathing and coughing due to the dust.

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

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The mining company Soma Komur issued a statement calling the mine collapse a "tragic accident".

"Unfortunately, some of our workers have lost their lives in this tragic accident," the statement said.

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"The accident happened despite maximum safety measures and inspections, but we have been able to take prompt action," it added.

Turkey's ministry of labour and social security said the mine was last inspected on March 17 and was found to be compliant with safety regulations.

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Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed his "heartfelt condolences" to the families of those who died.

"Some of the workers have been rescued and I hope we will be able to rescue the others," Erdogan said at an event with journalists in Ankara.

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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 and the hospital.

"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," Energy Minister Taner Yildiz told journalists before heading to Manisa.

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

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.