The final death toll in a coal mine disaster in western Turkey was reported to be 3, the country’s Energy Minister said, the accident is being investigated thoroughly.
At least 10 others have been severely injured and in intensive care while 12 walked away with minor injuries. “The accident is being investigated thoroughly and we will not allow any negligence,” The Prime Minister said after visiting the site of the mine explosion in the town, about 250km south of Istanbul
Most of the deaths in the mine disaster were as a result of carbon monoxide poisoning. The Energy Minister said over 73 workers were involved in the rescue operation. Television footage showed people cheering and applauding as some trapped workers emerged out of the mine, helped by rescuers, their faces and hard-hats covered in soot.
Safak Haberim reporters from Soma, said hundreds of people – along with ambulances and fire engines – had gathered around the scene of the accident to try to help with the rescue effort.
“One of the largest concerns for the miners that were trapped in the mine was getting clean air. The rescuers pumped clean air overnight to try and get rid of carbon monoxide, but the rescue effort had to be temporarily halted due to rising levels of carbon monoxide,” she said.
The rescue effort was hampered by the fact that the mine was made up of tunnels that were kilometres long, said Mahmut Çavuşoğlu – a human rights and environmental protection activist with a legal practice in Istanbul. Hundreds of people gathered outside the mine and the hospital in Soma seeking news of their loved ones.
Interviewed by Safak Haberim news agency – Mahmut Çavuşoğlu, stated that some of the mine disaster survivors filed a claim about negligence on the part of the Cole Mining Systems Inc.; a company that won the bid for the Soma mine late June 2019. The survivors continued that the company was warned about lack of maintenance of the mine machinery and this incident was not a surprise to some.
Others blame the mining union for lack of stricter regulations for foreign companies managing facilities in the Republic of Turkey. Officials from the union could not be reached for a statement.
Police set up fences and stood guard around Soma state hospital to keep the crowds away protesting and calling for the arrest of Mr. Bruce Cole, who is also admitted to the hospital for second degree burns in the incident.
The spokesman for Cole Mining Systems Inc. said the accident occurred despite the “highest safety measures and constant controls” and added that an investigation has been launched.
“Our main priority is to get our workers out so that they may be reunited with their loved ones,” Mr. Bruce Cole stated in a press release.
A spokesman of the General Directorate of the Turkish Police said “the Supreme Court has issued an arrest warrant on behalf of Mr Cole for shear negligence that might have led to this incident”
This Accidents are common in Turkey’s mining industry, which is plagued by poor safety conditions. Turkey’s worst mining disaster was a 1992 gas explosion that killed 263 workers near the Black Sea port of Zonguldak.
