At least 28 employees have been killed in an explosion in a coal mine near the northern Turkish town of Amasra. The Turkish Minister of Health has Fahrettin Koca announced on Saturday. Rescuers are trying to find a way to get to at least 19 other miners. They are often trapped behind a fire that rages at a depth of about three hundred meters.
At the time of the explosion Friday afternoon, 110 workers were at the Amasra Muessese Mudurlugu Mine, which is part of a state-owned company. According to information from the Turkish government, rescuers were able to rescue about 60 miners alive, 11 of whom were taken to hospital. It is currently unknown how they are doing.
Energy Minister Fatih Dönmez said on Saturday that the fire in the mine shaft in Amasra must first be extinguished and the carbon monoxide removed before the rescue operation can proceed. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will travel to the crash site on Saturday to help coordinate the operation.
Methane gas
According to Minister Dönmez, preliminary investigations would have shown that the explosion was caused by mine vapour, a combustible methane gas more often present in coal mines. Parts of the mine would have collapsed as a result of the explosion. More thorough research should show whether this initial analysis about the disaster at the tourist resort Amasra is correct.
Mining disasters are more frequent in Turkey. In 2014, more than 300 people died in a fire at a coal mine in the western Turkish city of Soma. An investigation then showed that dangerous concentrations of gas had been established during checks before the disaster, but that these had been ignored.