TURKEY: Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan expresses sadness following coal mine explosion as government officials say death toll has risen to 17 and more than 200 people are still trapped inside

Record ID: 217733

  • Title: TURKEY: Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan expresses sadness following coal mine explosion as government officials say death toll has risen to 17 and more than 200 people are still trapped inside
  • Date: 13th May 2014
  • Summary: ANKARA, TURKEY (MAY 13, 2014) (REUTERS) TURKISH PRIME MINISTER TAYYIP ERDOGAN STANDING AT PODIUM, PEOPLE SEATED (SOUNDBITE) (Turkish) TURKISH PRIME MINISTER, TAYYIP ERDOGAN, SAYING: "May God wish mercy upon our brothers who lost their lives and I hope our wounded brothers will get well soon. Rescue work is underway at the coal mine to rescue our brothers trapped there. So
  • Embargoed: 28th May 2014 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Turkey
  • Country: Turkey
  • Topics: Disasters / Accidents / Natural catastrophes,Industry
  • Reuters ID: LVA3N7RBKMT726SPWBVOTZ77Y98I
  • Story Text: Seventeen coal miners were killed on Tuesday (May 13) in an explosion and fire at a mine in western Turkey which trapped more than 200 others inside, government officials said.
    The blast at the mine in Soma, around 120 km (75 miles) northeast of the Aegean coastal city of Izmir, happened during a change in shifts, leading to uncertainty over the exact number of workers still inside, labour union officials said.

    "They are pumping oxygen into the mine, but the fire is still burning. They say it is an electrical fault but it could be that coal is burning as well," Tamer Kucukgencay, chairman of the regional labour union, told Reuters by telephone.
    Television footage showed injured men being taken into Manisa Soma District State Hospital in wheelchairs and on stretchers as distraught relatives gathered outside in Soma, a coal mining community in Turkey's western province of Manisa.
    Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan expressed his sadness following the deadly explosion.

    "May God wish mercy upon our brothers who lost their lives and I hope our wounded brothers will get well soon. Rescue work is underway at the coal mine to rescue our brothers trapped there. Some of our brothers have been pulled out of the debris as for the others, rescuers continue to work. We hope that the others will be rescued as well," he said in the capital Ankara.
    Energy Minister Taner Yildiz confirmed that a fire had been triggered by an electrical fault and that workers had been killed, but declined to say how many.
    Mehmet Bahattin Atci, mayor of Soma, said 200-300 workers were still inside following the explosion.
    The head of the local fire service also told Turkish television that around 300 workers were still trapped.
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