Nearly 50 Workers Trapped After Blast In Turkish Coal Mine: Report

Nearly 50 coalminers were trapped hundreds of metres below ground on Friday after an unexplained blast tore through a mine in northern Turkey.

Television images showed hundreds of people -- some with tears in their eyes -- congregating around a damaged white building near the entrance to the pit in the Black Sea town of Amasra.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan immediately dispatched his interior and energy ministers to the scene to oversee the rescue effort.

Local governor Nurtac Arslan told reporters that five people were trapped 350 metres (385 feet) below ground and another 44 at another location 300 metres below ground.

She said eight miners had managed to crawl out of the damaged pit on their own and were now receiving medical assistance.

"Our rescue efforts continue," Arslan said.

Turkey's Maden Is mining workers' union attributed the blast to a build-up of methane gas, but other officials said it was premature to draw conclusions over the cause of the accident.

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