Two people were killed and 20 injured on Friday after an explosion at a coal mine in Amasra, northwestern Turkey. According to the governor of the province, quoted by the Turkish media, several dozen workers are still stranded.
“Our rescue efforts continue. 12 injured people have been rescued,” said Nurtac Arslan, governor of Bartin province, which includes Amasra, a coastal city on the Black Sea.
Medical and rescue teams, as well as relatives of the stranded miners, many of whom had tears in their eyes, were visible in the first images released by Turkish media from the mine entrance.
301 minors murdered in 2014
The 15:15 GMT explosion is linked to a buildup of firedamp, according to the Maden-Is miners’ union, quoted by Turkish media. Rescue teams were busy this Friday night trying to save workers trapped in galleries located 300 and 350 meters below sea level.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has sent his energy and interior ministers to the site, according to the state agency Anadolu. Occupational accidents are frequent in Turkey, where the strong economic development of the last decade has often come at the expense of safety standards, especially in construction and mining.
Le pays en avait brutalement pris conscience à l’occasion d’accident survenu à Soma (ouest) en 2014: 301 mineurs avaient été tués dans une coal mine, after an explosion and a fire that avaient provoked the effondrement d’un wells.
Source: BFM TV
