The explosion, which occurred at the end of the afternoon in a mine in northeastern Turkey, injured at least 28 people, according to the Turkish Minister of the Interior.
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An explosion in a coal mine on Friday (October 14th) in Amasra, in northwestern Turkey, killed at least 22 people, said the Turkish Minister of Health, Fahrettin Koca. 28 people were also injured, according to Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu. After the explosion, which occurred at 6:15 p.m. local time, several dozen miners remained stranded some 300 meters below sea level.
Friday evening, rescue teams were trying to save dozens of workers trapped in galleries. According to Suleyman Soylu, 49 minors are still prisoners underground. 110 people were in the galleries at the time of the explosion.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced he was canceling his schedule to visit the crash site on Saturday. “Our wish is that the loss of life is not higher and that our miners can be saved safe and sound”he tweeted.
Turkish Energy Minister Fatih Donmez said that “according to the first observations, it is a gas explosion”. Accidents at work are frequent in Turkey. The strong economic development of the past decade has often come at the expense of safety rules, especially in construction and mining.