201 Dead in Turkey Mine Explosion, Hundreds Trapped
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - A mine explosion in western Turkey has killed 201, according to Energy Minister Taner Yildiz, and the toll could rise with many more still trapped.
Yildiz told reporters 787 workers were in the Soma mine when the explosion hit a power unit, Reuters reported.
Most of the confirmed dead were killed by carbon monoxide poisoning, Yildiz added.
An additional 80 people were injured and hospitalized, he said, four of them in critical condition.
AP reported that more than 200 miners are still trapped in the debris. More than 360 workers have been evacuated thus far.
Rescue workers pumped oxygen into the mine in an attempt to keep trapped miners alive, Reuters reported. A line of police held back thousands of family and fellow workers of the trapped miners who assembled outside of a Soma hospital.
"Fresh air, oxygen is being pumped into the mine. This is the most important thing for our workers down there," Yildiz said.
The mayor of Soma, a district in Manisa, also said the explosion was caused by an electrical fault, Reuters reported. The explosion, which occurred about 1.2 miles below the surface, reportedly disabled an elevator in the mine shaft. The workers are trapped some 2.5 miles from the exit.
Soma is 120 km (75 miles) northeast of the Aegean coastal city of Izmir.
Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan cancelled a Wednesday trip to Albania in order to visit the site of the blast, his office told Reuters.
"Rescue efforts for our brothers in the mine are ongoing ... God willing, in the coming hours, I hope to receive uplifting news," Erdogan said Tuesday.
Turkey’s worst mining disaster in recent years was a gas explosion in 1992 near the Black Sea port of Zonguldak, which left some 270 workers dead. Since then, Turkey has borne witness to several mining accidents.
