Turkish mine explosion kills 28 and traps hundreds: After an explosion at a coal mine in the Bartin region of northern Turkey, at least 28 people are dead, and dozens more still trapped below.
Nearly half of the 110 persons inside the mine at the time of the incident on Friday were more than 300 meters below the surface.
According to Turkey’s Health Minister Fahrettin Koca, 11 individuals have saved and are receiving medical attention.
To reach additional survivors, rescue teams dug through rock all night long.
At the mine near Amasra, on the Black Sea coast, rescuers can see arriving with blackened and sleep-deprived workers.
Awaiting word of their loved ones, the missing relatives and friends could also spot at the mine.
The explosion is thought to have happened 300 meters or more below the surface. According to Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu, 49 persons employed in the “risky” area between 300 and 350 meters (985 and 1,150 feet) below ground.
At the site, Mr. Soylu told reporters, “There are others who we were unable to remove from that place.”
The local prosecutor’s office has started an inquiry even though the cause of the explosion is yet unknown.
Turkey’s energy minister says that the explosion may have caused by firedamp. Which is methane that mixes with coal dust to make an explosive mixture in coal mines.
“We are in a deplorable position,” he said.
He said that there were no active flames, that ventilation was operating as it should have been, and that there were partial collapses within the mine.
On Saturday, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the president of Turkey, anticipate to go to the location.
Recai Cakir, the mayor of Amasra, said that many of the survivors had had “severe injuries.”
We don’t know precisely what occurred, but there was dust and smoke. According to one worker who made it out on his own.
State-owned Turkish Hard Coal Enterprises is the owner of the mine.
Three hundred and one people perished in Turkey’s worst coal mining accident in 2014, following an explosion in the western town of Soma.