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turkey mine explosion
Three people are facing a charge of causing multiple deaths in Soma mine disaster, Turkish officials say.
They were among 25 people detained on Sunday, including several mining company officials.
Soma mine explosion and fire on Tuesday sent carbon monoxide gas into the mine’s tunnels, claiming 301 lives.
It was Turkey’s worst-ever mining disaster and sparked protests against the government and mine operators.
Three people are facing a charge of causing multiple deaths in Soma mine disaster (photo Reuters)
The three facing charges are also accused of negligence, AP news agency reports.
Public prosecutor Bekir Sahiner said that one of the 25 arrested was the mine’s operations manager.
The manager, Akin Celik, has previously denied any negligence.
Turkey’s Dogan news agency has also said general manager Ramazan Dogru was among those arrested.
It is not yet clear if either of the men faces charges.
Six of those arrested on Sunday have now been released, the prosecutor said.
Initial reports suggest that the disaster could have been caused by coal in the mine overheating.
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The death toll of Soma mine disaster in Turkey has reached 301 after two more bodies were found.
The government has called a halt to the rescue operation as the bodies of all miners trapped after the mine collapsed are now thought to be recovered.
Protesters have clashed with police near Soma. Correspondents say more than 30 people, including several lawyers, have been arrested.
Demonstrations were held elsewhere over Turkey’s worst-ever mine disaster.
Hundreds of people marched through the western city of Izmir and there were protests in Istanbul and the capital, Ankara.
The death toll of Soma mine disaster in Turkey has reached 301 after two more bodies were found (photo AP)
“The rescue operation was carried out to completion. There are no miners left underground,” Energy Minister Taner Yildiz said on Saturday.
“Until today we had focused on search and rescue efforts. Now we will be focusing on investigations, on what will happen about production.”
“We won’t be leaving (Soma) because the search efforts are ending,” Taner Yildiz, said, according to Associated Press.
“There will be psychological and social support.”
The local authorities have banned demonstrations in the Soma town centre. On Friday riot police used rubber bullets, tear gas and water cannon when a protest briefly turned violent there.
Police have reportedly been stopping coach-loads of protesters from entering Soma and several lawyers linked to Turkey’s opposition movement have been arrested.
Tuesday’s disaster occurred when an explosion sent carbon monoxide gas into the mine’s tunnels while 787 miners were underground.
Mine operator Soma Holding has denied any negligence. A representative said an unexplained build-up of heat in the mine appeared to have caused the collapse.
There have been several anti-government protests across the country over the last four days.
PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been criticised for appearing insensitive in his reaction to the disaster.
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Soma Holding, the operator of the mine that collapsed, killing at least 284 people in Turkey, has denied any negligence.
Representatives from Soma Holding defended their response to the disaster, telling a news conference their priority had been to save lives.
They added that an unexplained build-up of heat in the mine appeared to have caused the collapse.
It was Turkey’s worst-ever mine disaster and has sparked angry protests against the government.
There are thought to be up to 18 workers still trapped inside the mine, according to Turkish ministers and Soma Holding. It is not clear if the men are still alive.
Another 363 escaped, while 122 are injured.
At least 284 people died in Soma mine explosion in Turkey
The disaster began when an explosion on Tuesday sent carbon monoxide gas into the mine’s tunnels while 787 miners were underground.
Energy Minister Taner Yildiz said that a fire was still burning inside the mine, but it was “declining”.
Anyone negligent about safety at the mine would be punished, Taner Yildiz said: “We won’t take any notice of their tears.”
Speaking to journalists, plant manager Akin Celik said: “We still do not know how the accident happened. There is no negligence of ours in this incident.”
“We want to find answers as well. We have never faced such conditions, such circumstances. We haven’t slept for three days because we’re first trying to save lives.”
Soma Holding executives said it was not clear what caused the explosion and collapse.
However, General Director Ramazan Dogru said reports that the fire began at a transformer were wrong.
“Overheating led to a collapse” at another part of the mine, he said, adding that this caused a fire which rapidly expanded. He said it was not clear why the overheating had occurred.
Much of the news conference focused on whether the mine had rescue chambers – safe rooms where miners can take refuge for an extended period of time.
Mining officials said an existing rescue chamber at the mine’s upper levels had been disassembled as production there had stopped, and work on a rescue chamber at the lower section was under way.
Rescue chambers were not a legal requirement, and the mine had an escape route for workers, they added.
Company chief Alp Gurkan said he was “saddened” by the disaster, and that he “couldn’t believe what [he] was hearing” when he heard the news.
“All the high-level mining experts in Turkey have seen this as the safest mine. We have difficulty in understanding how this event has happened,” he said.
PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been criticized for being insensitive in his reaction to the disaster, by appearing to suggest that it was a fact of life.
His aide Yusuf Yerkel made headlines on Thursday when photos emerged of him appearing to kick a protester in Soma.
Later pictures of Recep Tayyip Erdogan appearing to slap a protester in a local supermarket were also shown in the Turkish media.
The Soma mine was privatized in 2005. The government has been accused of rejecting a recent proposal for an inquiry into mine accidents, but officials say the Soma mine was subject to regular inspections, most recently in March.
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Turkish trade unions are holding a one-day strike in protest at the country’s worst ever mine disaster, which has claimed at least 282 lives up to now.
Thousands have taken to the streets in cities across the country; clashes have broken out in Izmir.
President Abdullah Gul visited the scene of the disaster in Soma, as Turkey holds three days of mourning.
PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan was booed and jostled by angry protesters during his visit to Soma on Wednesday.
Several unions are reportedly taking part in the 24-hour strike, and blame the privatization of the mining sector for making working conditions more dangerous.
Some 3,000 people have begun gathering in the capital, Ankara, to march on the labor ministry. Protests have also begun in Istanbul.
It was a second day of protest, after police clashed with crowds on Wednesday.
Police fired tear gas and water cannon on some 20,000 people who took to the streets in Izmir, Turkey’s third largest city situated just 75 miles from Soma, the Hurriyet Daily News reports. A union boss in the city was said to have been hospitalized.
Soma mine disaster has claimed at least 282 lives up to now (photo CBC)
More than 5,000 protesters say they will stay in the city centre until some colleagues who were detained are released.
Protests continued for a second day in Istanbul and Ankara, after police used tear gas and water cannon to disperse crowds on Wednesday.
There were reports of demonstrations in Bursa, Antalya and other cities.
“Those who pursue privatization… policies, who threaten workers’ lives to reduce cost… are the culprits of the Soma massacre and they must be held accountable,” said the Public Workers Unions Confederation.
Rescue efforts continue at the mine in Soma but there is little hope of finding anyone else alive.
Eight bodies were recovered overnight, bringing the death toll to 282. Up to 150 miners remain missing.
Excavators have been digging new graves in the town’s cemetery, as hasty funerals are being held for victims.
Women cried and sang improvised songs about their relatives as the bodies were lowered into the graves.
President Abdullah Gul called on Turks to be “unified… to get over these hard times” during his visit to Soma. He was speaking after meeting injured miners in hospital and touring the scene of the disaster.
Scuffles broke out during PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s visit. People booed him and kicked his car, calling for his resignation. He was forced to seek refuge in a shop at one stage. The town’s ruling AK party offices were also attacked.
However, it was PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s aide, Yusuf Yerkel, who made headlines on Thursday when photos emerged of him appearing to kick a protester in Soma.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been criticized for being insensitive in his reaction to the disaster, after he cited numerous mining accidents throughout the world, including in Britain in the 19th Century, in defending the Turkish government’s record.
He said every effort would be made to find the missing miners, and promised a full investigation.
The Soma mine was privatised in 2005.
The government has been accused of rejecting a recent proposal for a parliamentary inquiry into mine accidents in the area, although officials say the Soma mine was subject to regular inspections, most recently in March.
An electrical fault triggered the blast soon after midday on Tuesday, while 787 miners were underground, some 1.2 miles below the surface and 4km from the mine entrance.
The resulting power cut made the mine cages unusable. Many of them died of carbon monoxide poisoning.
Government officials said 363 miners were rescued in the hours after the explosion, but no survivors have been brought out since dawn on Wednesday.
Turkey’s worst mining disaster until now was in 1992, when 263 miners were killed near Zonguldak, on the Black Sea.
Coal mining is a major industry in the Soma area, helping to supply a nearby lignite-fired thermal power plant, but safety has long been a concern. Nearly 40% of Turkey’s electricity production depends on coal.
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A mine explosion in western Turkey has killed 245 people, with 80 injured, according to Energy Minister Taner Yildiz, and the toll could rise with many more still trapped.
Anger has erupted against the Turkish government after the deadly coal mine disaster in the western town of Soma.
People in Soma hurled abuse as they surrounded Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s car during his visit to the scene of the tragedy, and protesters clashed with police in Istanbul and Ankara.
Rescuers are still hunting desperately for scores of miners who are missing but feared dead.
Nearly 450 workers have been rescued, according to the mine operator. However, no survivors have been found in the last few hours and more than 100 are still unaccounted for.
Eighty of those rescued had been treated for injuries, none of which were described as serious.
People in Soma hurled abuse as they surrounded PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s car during his visit to the scene of the tragedy (photo Getty Images)
Local media reports said protesters in Soma kicked Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s car and called for his resignation after he gave a news conference on the disaster.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan was booed as he emerged from his car. Some arrests were made amid the scuffles and pictures showed the prime minister, surrounded by bodyguards, seeking refuge in a shop. Protesters also attacked the town’s ruling AK party offices.
Meanwhile, police in Ankara fired tear gas and water cannon at about 800 protesters who tried to march from a university to the energy ministry.
There were also reports of a protest in Istanbul outside the headquarters of Soma Holding, the company that owns the mine.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan has faced criticism on social media for being insensitive, after he cited numerous mining accidents throughout the world, including in Britain in the 19th Century, in defending the Turkish government’s record.
He said every effort would be made to find the missing miners, and promised a full investigation.
“I just want everybody to know that the disaster will be investigated in every aspect and will continue to be investigated and we are not going to allow any negligence, or leave any stone unturned,” he said.
Earlier PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced three days of mourning for the victims.
Family members of missing miners gathered at the hospital. They told him they would not move from there until they got information about their loved ones.
Energy Minister Taner Yildiz said 787 people had been inside the mine when an electrical fault triggered the blast soon after midday on Tuesday. Many of them died of carbon monoxide poisoning.
Fires were reportedly still burning in the mine 18 hours after the blast.
Dogan news agency reported that one of the dead miners, named as Kemal Yildiz, was only 15 years old.
The electrical fault triggered a power cut, making the mine cages unusable. Those trapped are reported to be 1.2 miles below the surface and 4km from the mine entrance.
Hours after the explosion, TV footage showed rescuers helping workers from the mine, their faces and hard-hats covered in soot and dust and some on stretchers.
Only the dead were being recovered by mid-morning on Wednesday.
Coal mining is a major industry in the Soma area, helping to supply a nearby lignite-fired thermal power plant, but safety has long been a concern. Nearly 40% of Turkey’s electricity production depends on coal.
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More than 200 people are trapped underground after an explosion and a fire at a coal mine in Soma, western Turkey, that has killed several miners, officials said.
Those trapped are about 1.2 miles below the surface and 2.5 miles from the mine’s exit.
Search and rescue operations are taking place in Manisa province. It is estimated that 580 workers were underground at the time, but that many escaped.
Quoting health officials, local lawmaker Muzaffer Yurttas told broadcaster NTV that 20 bodies had been retrieved and that at least another 20 workers had been taken to hospital. He said later that four people had been killed.
More than 200 people are trapped underground after an explosion and a fire at a coal mine in Soma
“They died of choking and burns,” he said.
A senior local official, Mehmet Bahattin Atci, said thick smoke at the privately owned mine was hampering rescue efforts.
Energy Ministry Taner Yildiz is going to Soma to oversee the rescue operation, NTV said.
Although Taner Yıldız mentioned “casualties” in his first statement after the accident, he warned that the death tolls reported in the press could be “misleading”, Hurriyet newspaper reported.
“Various numbers can be reported. I don’t want to give any numbers. We first have to reach our workers underground,” he told journalists before leaving for Manisa.
He also said four separate rescue teams were currently working in the mine.
“The fire creates a problem but oxygen is being pumped into the mine shafts that weren’t affected,” he added.
Analysts say the safety record of Turkey’s coal mining industry lags behind that of most industrial nations.
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