20 dead, hundreds trapped in Turkish mine
Print Edition
AT least 20 miners were feared dead and up to 400 others trapped after a coal mine collapsed in the western Turkish province of Manisa yesterday, a lawmaker said.
“Twenty workers were killed and around 30 were wounded in the accident,” Muzaffer Yurttas, a member of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), told local TV station NTV.
Fire officials were trying to pump clean air into the mine shaft for those who remain trapped some 2 kilometers below the surface and 4km from the entrance.
The mine collapse was caused by an explosion following an electric fault, a regional governor told NTV.
Local media said there were 580 people in the mine at the time of the explosion but many managed to escape.
“I don’t want to give any numbers. We first have to reach our workers underground,” Energy Minister Taner Yildiz told journalists.
“Four rescue teams are working in the mine. The fire is creating a problem but oxygen is being pumped into the mine shafts that weren’t affected,” said Yildiz.
Temel Korkmaz, head of the town’s fire department, said an initial rescue team was able to enter part of the mine to rescue 30 wounded, who were taken to a nearby hospital.
Yurttas said there were between 300 and 400 people still trapped.
Other estimates put the number of people trapped at between 200 and 300.
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