Turkey coal mine blast: 14 dead, 28 injured and nearly 50 trapped underground

Ankara: An explosion inside a coal mine in northern Turkey has left 14 people dead, at least 28 injured and nearly 50 trapped underground, Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said. The explosion occurred on Friday at the state-owned TTK Amasra Muessese Mudurlugu mine in the town of Amasra, in the Black Sea coastal province of Bartin. Energy Minister Fatih Donmez said the explosion is likely to have been caused by firedamp, a reference to flammable gases found in coal mines. There were 110 people inside the mine at the time of the explosion, Soylu, who travelled to Amasra to coordinate the rescue operation told reporters. Most of the workers were able to vacate the mine following the blast but 49 were trapped in a "high risk" area of the facility, the minister said.

Several rescue teams were dispatched to the area, including from neighbouring provinces, Turkey's disaster management agency, AFAD, said. Media reports said President Recep Tayyip Erdogan cancelled a planned visit to southeast Turkey and would travel to Amasra instead.

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The private DHA news agency quoted one worker as telling Gov. Arslan that he came out of the mine by his own means. He described feeling a "pressure" but said he could not see anything due to the dust and dirt.

About 50 miners were trapped under the rubble after an explosion in a coal mine in Turkey pic.twitter.com/Jew1p49U9d — ACROSS THE LINE (@ErajChangizian) October 14, 2022

 

People rushed to the mine for news of trapped friends or colleagues, DHA reported. In Turkey's worst mine disaster, a total of 301 people died in 2014 in a fire inside a coal mine in the town of Soma, in western Turkey.