At least 40 people were killed and dozens remained trapped underground following an explosion that occurred tonight (between Friday and Saturday) in a coal mine in Bertin district in northern Turkey.
Turkey’s health minister, Partin Koca, said at least 11 people were rescued and treated at the scene, with about 110 people working in the mine at the time of the explosion, almost half of them at a depth of over 300 meters.
An explosion in a mine in Turkey (Photo: Reuters)According to the Minister of the Interior, Suleiman Soylo, the explosion apparently occurred at a depth of about 300 meters, and about 49 people were working in the “dangerous” area between 300 and 350 meters underground. “There are some that we have not been able to evacuate from this area,” Soylo told reporters at the scene.
The cause of the explosion is not yet known, and the local prosecutor’s office has opened an investigation. At the same time, Turkey’s energy minister said that there are preliminary indications that the explosion was caused by fire moisture – methane, which forms an explosive mixture in coal mines.