Explosion at a coal mine in northern Bartin province's Amasra town leaves at least 28 people dead, officials say, as search continues for many trapped miners.
Some 110 miners were working at the mine when the blast occurred, officials say. (AA)
More than two dozen people have been killed and many others injured when a blast tore through a coal mine in northern Türkiye's Bartin province, officials said, as rescuers rushed to reach trapped miners underground.
Death toll from the explosion rose to 28 while dozens of miners have been rescued so far, Turkish officials said on Saturday. They said 11 injured are being treated at multiple hospitals.
"In all, 110 of our brothers were working (underground). Some of them came out on their own, and some of them were rescued," Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu told reporters.
Bartin province governor Nurtac Arslan said some people were trapped 350 metres below ground and others at a different location, 300 metres underground, at the facility in the Black Sea port town of Amasra.
She said some miners had managed to crawl out of the damaged pit on their own and were now receiving medical assistance.
The explosion occurred 300 metres below the entrance of the mine at around 1515GMT, her office said.
"Our hope is that the loss of life does not increase further, that our miners are saved. All our efforts are geared in that direction" – Turkish President Erdogan
— TRT World (@trtworld) October 14, 2022
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Cause of blast being probed
The cause of the blast at the Turkish Hard Coal Enterprises mine was under investigation.
Energy Minister Fatih Donmez said the explosion is likely to have been caused by firedamp, a reference to flammable gases found in coal mines.
Turkish TV footage showed people being carried to ambulances, with emergency personnel crowding the area.
Immediately after the reports of the blast emerged, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan dispatched Donmez and Soylu to the scene, according to local media.
Erdogan canceled a planned visit to the southeastern city of Diyarbakir and will travel to Amasra instead to coordinate the rescue operation.
"Our hope is that the loss of life does not increase further, that our miners are saved," Erdogan said in a statement. "All our efforts are geared in that direction."
TRT World's Ali Mustafa reporting from the site said emergency staff from several provinces are working to pull the remaining miners from the coal mine.
Turkish Energy Minister Fatih Donmez says the explosion at a coal mine in Türkiye's Bartin province, which left 22 people dead and dozens wounded, was likely caused by firedamp
— TRT World (@trtworld) October 14, 2022
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Workers speak of incident
"We got a call and we ran into the mine immediately. We pulled some of the workers out of the mine. But we could not go inside due to the gas leak," Aykut Uysal, a miner told TRT World.
"We did not pull them out, it is the expert team doing that but we helped to carry them out of the mine."
The private DHA news agency quoted one mine worker as telling Bartin governor Arslan that he came out of the mine by his own means. He described feeling "pressure" but said he could not see anything due to the dust and dirt.
People rushed to the mine for news of trapped friends or colleagues, DHA reported.In Türkiye's worst mine disaster, a total of 301 people died in 2014 in a fire inside a coal mine in the town of Soma, in western Türkiye.
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(With input from news agency language)
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