Coal mine disaster in Turkey: 238 killed many still trapped

Turkey, a country which has suffered from similar coal mine disasters is mourning once again, today.

Mining accidents are common in Turkey, which is plagued by poor safety conditions. Turkey’s worst mining disaster was a 1992 gas explosion that killed 263 workers near the Black Sea port of Zonguldak.

This time bad news came from SOMA coal mine in the Manisa region (Western Anatolia).  An explosion tore through the mine as workers were preparing for a shift change – as expressed by officials said – and is supposed to have increased the casualty toll because there were more miners inside than usual.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan postponed a foreign trip and visited the mine in Soma, about 250 kilometers (155 miles) south of Istanbul. The deaths were caused by carbon monoxide poisoning, officials said.

Acccording to Energy Minister Taner Yıldız, 787 people were inside the coal mine in Soma at the time of Tuesday’s explosion and 363 of them had been rescued. Scores were injured, Yıldız told reporters in Soma, where he was overseeing operations by more than 400 rescuers.

On the other hand PM Erdoğan who cancelled his schedule and flew to the region said the incident would be investigated to its “smallest detail” and “no negligence would be ignored.” He discussed rescue operations with authorities, walked near the entrance of the mine and also comforted two crying women. Earlier, Erdoğan declared three days of national mourning, ordering flags to be lowered to half-staff. Erdoğan also said there were an estimated 120 workers still inside the mine. “Our hope is that, God willing, they will be brought out,” he said. “That is what we are waiting for.”

Tensions were high as hundreds of relatives and miners stood outside the mine. The crowd shouted at officials, including when Yıldız passed by, and some wailed each time a body was brought up. A heavy police presence was in place around the mine.

In Istanbul, hundreds of demonstrators gathered outside the headquarters of the company which owns the mine, Soma Holding. In the capital, Ankara, police dispersed a group who tried to march to the energy ministry to protest the deaths, the Dogan news agency reported. Erdoğan warned that some radical groups would try to use the disaster to discredit the government.

Turkey’s Labor and Social Security Ministry said the mine had been inspected five times since 2012, including in March of 2014, and that no issues violating work safety and security were detected. The country’s main opposition party said Erdoğan’s ruling party had recently voted down a proposal for the establishment of a parliamentary inquiry into a series of small-scale accidents at mines around Soma.

14.05.2014
SOURCE: MEDIA