28 killed in coal mine explosion in Turkey

At least 28 people were killed due to an explosion in a coal mine in Turkey’s northern Bartin province on Friday, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said.

The minister said in a statement via his Twitter account on Saturday that 6 of the injured were transferred to Istanbul for treatment while 5 are being treated in Bartin hospitals.

Earlier, Turkey’s interior minister said a blast inside a coal mine in northern Turkey has left 14 workers dead.

Suleyman Soylu said at least 28 others were rescued with injuries from the coal mine in the Black Sea coastal province of Amasra

He explained in a press statement in front of the stricken mine, that the explosion caused the siege of 49 people in the dangerous area inside the mine.

Rescue teams recovered the bodies of 14 workers, he said, while 7 wounded were taken to hospital, including 3 in serious condition, noting that rescue work was continuing for the rest of those trapped.

Turkey’s Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, Fatih Donmez, announced that preliminary investigations had shown that the explosion was caused by a gas leak.

In a related context, the Turkish Presidency Liaison Department announced in a statement that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan postponed his visit to the province of Diyarbakir scheduled for Saturday, and decided to go to Bartin, to supervise the progress of rescue operations in the mine located in the “Amasra” region.

E.M