Turkey mine explosion: At least 201 dead and more trapped underground after fire (update)

Rescuers pulled more dead and injured from a coal mine in western Turkey on Wednesday more than 12 hours after an explosion, bringing the death toll to 201 in the nation's worst mining disaster for decades.

Hundreds more were still believed to be trapped in the mine in Soma, around 120 km (75 miles) northeast of the Aegean coastal city of Izmir. The explosion, which triggered a fire, occurred shortly after 3 pm (1200 GMT) on Tuesday.

"We are worried that this death toll will rise ... I have to say that our hopes are dimming in terms of the rescue efforts," Energy Minister Taner Yildiz told reporters at the scene.

Fellow miners said the fire was still burning underground, hampering the operation. A pall of smoke hung above the area.

Rescue workers pumped oxygen into the mine to try to keep those trapped by the blaze alive, as thousands of family members and co-workers gathered outside the town's hospital. Many of the dead had suffered carbon monoxide poisoning, Yildiz said.

The energy minister had warned late on Tuesday that 787 workers had been in the mine at the time of the blast, believed to have been caused by an electrical fault.

Some 80 people were pulled out wounded including several rescuers, four of them critically injured.

The explosion took place during a change in shifts, meaning there was uncertainty about the exact number of miners still trapped inside, although Turkey's disaster management agency (AFAD) put the figure at more than 200 late on Tuesday.

A cold storage warehouse, usually used for food, and freezer trucks served as makeshift morgues as hospital facilities overflowed. Medical staff intermittently emerged from the hospital to read the names of survivors being treated inside, with families and fellow workers clamouring for information.

Teams of psychiatrists were being pulled together to help counsel the families of victims. Paramilitary police guarded the entrance to the mine to keep distressed relatives at a safe distance from the rescue effort.

There were calls on social media for protests in front of the Istanbul headquarters of Soma Komur Isletmeleri, the operator of the mine. The company said in a brief statement late on Tuesday that there had been "a grave accident" caused by an explosion in a substation but gave few other details.

Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan cancelled a day trip to Albania, scheduled for Wednesday, and would instead go to the site of the disaster, sources in his office said.

The Labour Ministry said late on Tuesday its officials had carried out regular inspections at the mine, most recently in March this year, and that no irregularities had been detected.

Turkey's worst mining accident was in 1992, when a gas explosion killed 263 workers in the Black Sea province of Zonguldak. The country has a poor health and safety record in mining, particularly coal.

In May 2010, another gas explosion killed 30 miners, again in Zonguldak province.

Wednesday 14 May 2014

http://in.reuters.com/article/2014/05/14/uk-turkey-mine-idINKBN0DT22B20140514

Colleagues face grim task of identifying bus crash victims

Colleagues of four Bangladeshi workers killed in Saturday’s bus crash in Dubai said they may have to identify the bodies.

The accident on Emirates Road also killed nine Indian workers and injured more than a dozen others travelling in the bus that hit a parked truck.

Only three workers — all Bangladeshi — remain in hospital, said an official from the Bangladeshi consulate in Dubai.

They are stable and recovering, he said.

The workers live in Umm Al Quwain and work mostly in Dubai.

They said some of them may be transported to Dubai on Wednesday to identify the bodies of the dead Bangladeshis.

According to survivors of the crash – and purported pictures of the accident aftermath – some of the victims’ faces have been left badly disfigured.

Worker Mohammad Babul said a number of roommates of the deceased and a relative of two accident victims may be among those identifying the bodies.

“We will have to identify them using other ways as well, not just by faces. The accident was so bad some victims’ faces are beyond recognition,” Babul said.

“One victim was 42-43 years old. Another was 32 and fat. A third was 22 and kind of fair. The fourth was short and of dark complexion.”

Babul said “we got a call from the company office to be ready early morning on Wednesday as we have to go to Dubai for this.”

Another worker, Mohammad Atiullah, also said some workers may be going for the grim task.

Meanwhile, according to the workers, their company’s “owner” visited them in Umm Al Quwain on Monday night for the first time after the accident.

He was reportedly held for questioning before his release on Monday, a company representative had said.

The representative could not be reached for an immediate comment on Tuesday.

The workers said the owner, said to be an Indian expat, promised to ensure their rights.

Babul said: “He said the management will fight for the injured and victims’ rights, saying they are following up with insurance companies. He said not one fils of any outstanding wages will be held back.

“He also said they are working day and night with local authorities and the Indian and Bangladeshi consulate or embassy to have the bodies sent home as soon as possible.”

Babul added that the owner was flanked by a manager and legal advisor.

“We were told that the company is looking to house us closer to work in Dubai or even in Sharjah.”

Their long daily drive from Umm Al Quwain to Dubai and back left them with little rest or leisure time, workers said.

“It was hard for the driver also, he may have fallen asleep when the bus crashed,” said a survivor.

Survivors earlier said they are not sure what led to the early morning accident as almost all the nearly 30 workers were asleep in the bus at the time.

Meanwhile, the workers have not been to work since Saturday.

“The owner said those of us who can, should return to work. Some of us were too disturbed by the tragedy,” Atiullah said.

Wednesday 14 May 2014

http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/uae/government/colleagues-face-grim-task-of-identifying-bus-crash-victims-1.1332093

Several killed, hundreds trapped after Turkey mine explosion

At least 17 people have been killed after an explosion and fire at a coal mine in western Turkey, officials say.

Hundreds were reported to be trapped underground at the mine in Soma, Manisa province, but Turkish media suggest as many as 157 have died.

A huge rescue operation has begun and some 20 people are reported to have been brought out so far.

Turkish President Abdullah Gul has ordered the regional governor to deploy all resources to rescue the miners.

They are thought to be 4km (2.4 miles) from the entrance, at a depth of 2km.

While it is estimated that 580 workers were underground at the time of the blast, it is thought many of them managed to escape.



Union officials said as the blast occurred at shift changeover time, there was uncertainty about how many miners were still inside, Reuters news agency reports.

Large crowds of worried family members gathered near the privately-owned mine.

This evening the Mayor of Manisa, Cengiz Ergun, said 157 had been killed and 75 injured in the explosion, which is believed to have been triggered by an electrical fault.

Mr Ergun said nearly 600 workers were left trapped underground after the explosion.

They are thought to be trapped about 2km below the surface and 4km from the exit of the mine.

Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz said the situation was 'worrisome' and rescue efforts would last until the morning.

Yildiz said rescuers were pumping fresh air into the mine and rescue teams from neighbouring regions were rushing to the area. Tamer Kucukgencay, chairman of the regional labour union, said: ‘They are pumping oxygen into the mine, but the fire is still burning.

‘They say it is an electrical fault but it could be that coal is burning as well.’

Dozens of fellow workers and family members have gathered outside the hospital in Soma - a coal mining community in Turkey's western province of Manisa.

A senior local official, Mehmet Bahattin Atci, said thick smoke was hampering rescue efforts.

Energy Ministry Taner Yildiz said it was a "serious accident" and that he was going to Soma to oversee the rescue operation.

He told reporters that the fire had been triggered by an electrical fault.



He also said that 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.

Before leaving for Manisa, Mr Yildiz told journalists it was too early to be precise about the extent of casualties: "I don't want to give any numbers. We first have to reach our workers underground,"

Analysts say the safety record of Turkey's coal mining industry lags behind that of most industrial nations.

The country's worst mining disaster was in 1992, when 270 miners were killed near Zonguldak, on the Black Sea.

Wednesday 14 May 2014

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-27400283