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Dead and injured in the explosion of a coal mine in Turkey
Turkish authorities announced that 28 people were killed in an explosion in a coal mine in the north of the country.
The incident took place in the Amasra region on the Black Sea coast.
Health Minister Fakhruddin Qugha said the rescue teams managed to save 11 people. Dozens are believed to be trapped underground, hundreds of meters deep, amid attempts by rescue teams to get them out.
Authorities have not yet established the cause of this explosion.
Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu said: “We are facing a very unfortunate situation. In total, there were 110 of our brothers working (underground), some went out unaided while others were rescued,” in statements to the media before boarding the plane for Amasra.
The television footage showed crowds of anxious-looking people – some in tears – gathered around a damaged white building near the entrance to the pit, hoping for information about their loved ones and friends.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is expected to visit the crash site later today.
The first information about the incident came from workers who managed to crawl out of the mine without suffering serious injuries.
Rajai Jakir, Mayor of Amasra, said many of the survivors of the mine explosion were “seriously injured”.
The explosion occurred on Friday evening and relief efforts began at nightfall.
It is believed that the reason for the explosion may be the accumulation of methane gas “for an unknown reason”.
Nearby villages have sent reinforcements to the rescue teams. Television footage showed paramedics providing oxygen to survivors of the accident.
Jakir said that 70 rescuers managed to descend to a point 250 meters from the well, but it is still unclear whether the rescue teams can reach depths that bring them closer to the stranded workers and there is no information available on the obstacles they have. they might prevent them from reaching them.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office said it had opened an official investigation into the circumstances of the explosion.
Interestingly, Turkey witnessed the largest coal mining disaster in its history in 2014, when 301 miners were killed in a mine explosion in Soma City.
