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Turkish mine blast’s death toll rises to at least 14

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An explosion in a coal mine in Turkey’s northern Bartin province on Friday killed 14 people, Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said, but it was not clear how many people were trapped due to the blast that occurred as 110 people were working.

Fourteen others were hospitalised, Soylu said, adding that 49 had been working at 300 meters and 350 metres underground, describing it as the risky zone. “There are those whom we were able to evacuate from that area.

There are those whom we were not able to evacuate from that area,” Soylu told reporters at the scene of the blast.

Energy Minister Fatih Donmez said that the initial indications were that the blast was caused by firedamp, a term referring to methane in coal mines.

There are no ongoing fires inside the mine and the ventilation inside was working properly, Donmez said, adding that there were partial collapses inside the mine.

The explosion occurred 300 metres below the entrance of the mine at around 1515 GMT, the Bartin governor’s office said.

Footage on Turkish television showed what it said were the families of the miners watching from the sidelines as health and rescue workers huddled around the entrance to the mine.

Some miners were taken out and carried off to ambulances on stretchers, footage showed.

Bartin prosecutor’s office said it had launched an investigation into the cause of the explosion.

 

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