Tragedy struck on Friday night after a methane explosion occurred at a coal mine where 110 miners were working underground in northern Turkey, killing over 28 people, and trapping many other miners hundreds of metres underground. It was gathered that search and rescue officials on Saturday intensified the search for signs of life in the devastated mining site and rescued 11 persons alive.
The Health Minister in Turkey, Fahrettin Koca, in an update of death toll, indicated in a tweet that rescuers pulled 11 miners out of the mine site alive; saying that they were being treated in hospital. He described the incident as one of Turkey’s deadliest industrial accidents in years which hit the mining site on Friday at sunset.
The Interior Minister, Suleyman Soylu, making urgent flight to assess the accident in the coal mining town of Amasra on Turkey’s Black Sea coast, lamented: “We are facing a truly regretful situation.
“In all, 110 of our brothers were working. Some of them came out on their own, and some of them were rescued.”
Soylu had further confirmed early reports that nearly 50 miners were still trapped in two separate areas between 300 and 350 metres (985 to 1,150 feet) underground.
Television images showed anxious crowds — some with tears in their eyes — congregating around a damaged white building near the entrance to the pit in search of news for their friends and loved ones.
The President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in a tweet, declared: “Our hope is that the loss of life will not increase further, that our miners will be found alive.
“All of our efforts are aimed in this direction.” Erdogan said he has canceled all engagements and is flying to the scene of the accident on Saturday.