bbc.com http://www.bbc.

com/news/world-europe-27403061
Selin Girit BBC Turkish Service
Turkey coal mine explosion: Death toll rises
14 May 2014 Last updated at 07:14 GMT
The BBC's Alpa Patel: "Hundreds of
f amilies desperately waited f or
news... but rescuers pulled out
body af ter body"
Continue reading the main story
Related Stories
An explosion at a coal mine in
western Turkey has lef t at least
201 workers dead and scores
injured, of f icials say.
Energy Minister Taner Yildiz said
787 people had been inside the
mine at Soma in Manisa province when an electrical f ault triggered the blast.
Rescuers worked through the night, but Mr Yildiz said hopes were f ading of f inding any more survivors.
Worried relatives have gathered near the privately owned mine, about 450km (280 miles) west of the capital
Ankara.
Continue reading the main story
Analysis
Turkey has been on edge, waiting f or some good news about the trapped miners. But as the hours have
passed the picture now looks gloomier. TV f ootage shows relatives gathered anxiously at the state
hospital where the injured are taken. Ambulances come and go.
At the mine itself , rescue operations continue. As a miner emerges alive, cheers erupt f ollowed by tears.
Social media is buzzing with reaction. Some complain about the lack of mine security, an issue that Turkey
does not have a good record on.
Four years ago in Zonguldak, 30 miners died in an explosion. One of the worst mining accidents took place
in the same town when more than 250 miners lost their lives in 1992.
Mr Yildiz conf irmed the latest death toll on Turkish TV and said some 80 people had been injured.
He said that of the workers inside the mine at the time of the accident, only about 360 of them - including
those killed - had been accounted f or.
Mr Yildiz said that carbon monoxide poisoning had claimed many lives. Oxygen was being pumped into the
mine to help those still trapped.
He later said hopes were f ading that anyone else would be f ound alive.
The electrical f ault triggered a power cut, making the mine cages unusable. Those trapped are reported to
be 2km (1.2 miles) below the surf ace and 4km f rom the mine entrance.
The blast happened at about 12:30 GMT on Tuesday. Initial reports said 17 people had died but the death
toll leapt later in the day.
TV f ootage showed rescuers helping workers f rom the mine, their f aces and hard-hats covered in soot and
dust. Some were carried on stretchers to waiting ambulances.
Police were keeping the crowds back to allow emergency services in and out of the area.
There were cheers from the crowd as those rescued were brought to the surface
Rel ati ves of the mi ssi ng mi ners face an agoni si ng wai t for news
Sena Isbiler, a mother of one of the miners, stood on top of piles of wood, anxiously craning her neck to
see those being led out of the mine.
"I have been waiting f or my son since early af ternoon," she told AFP news agency. "I haven't heard anything
about him yet."
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has postponed a trip to Albania over the accident and is to visit Soma
instead, his of f ice said.
The mine's owners, Soma Komur Isletmeleri, said an investigation was under way but the accident occurred
despite the "highest saf ety measures and constant controls".
"Our main priority is to get our workers out so that they may be reunited with their loved ones," the owners
said in a statement.
Lignite coal mining is a major industry in the Soma area, helping to supply a nearby lignite-f ired thermal
power plant.
Analysts say the saf ety record of Turkey's coal mines lags behind that of most industrial nations.
The country's worst mining disaster was in 1992, when 270 miners were killed near Zonguldak, on the Black
Sea.
Are you in Manisa? How have you been affected by the explosion? You can email your
experiences to haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk, using the subject line 'Turkey'.
Send your pictures and videos to yourpics@bbc.co.uk or text them to 61124 (UK) or +44 7624 800 100
(International). If you have a large file you can upload here.