There are 44 people who are trapped 300 meters below the ground, and five additional people who are 50 meters further down, says Nurtaç Arslan to the news agency Anadolu Ajansi. He is the governor of Amasra in the Bartin province in the far north of the country, where the coal mine is located. – Eight people managed to leave the mine on their own, says Arslan further to the agency. The cause of the explosion is said to be a problem with a transformer inside the mine, which is owned by the state-owned company Turkish Hard Coal Enterprises. This is what the Turkish Disaster Management Authority (AFAD) says on Friday evening. The explosion must have occurred around 300 meters from the surface at around 17.15 Norwegian time, says the governor’s office to Reuters. According to the agency, video footage from Turkish TV shows people being carried into ambulances and a large number of rescuers in the area. Turkish Energy Minister Fatih Donmez and Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu are on their way, reports the Turkish news agency. Turkey’s worst mining accident occurred in 2014 when 301 people died in a fire in a coal mine in Soma in the west of the country.
ttn-69