News from Al-Madinah: The death toll from the Friday coal mine collapse in the northern Bartin district has risen to 41, according to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
“Finding mine workers in the hallways was our top goal. Finally, among the workers, we came to the last component. He also died, and thus the death toll rises to 41,” Erdogan said during an inspection visit to the site.
The conclusion of the mine’s search and rescue efforts and the final death toll were verified by Turkey’s energy minister.
Suleiman Sweilo, the interior minister of Turkey, stated earlier on Saturday that there had been an increase in the number of fatalities due to the explosion to 40 and that 15 miners were still trapped inside the structure.
Fakhruddin Qawa, the minister of health, had stated that 11 mine employees have critical wounds.
Out of the 110 workers trapped in the mine, 58 have been successfully rescued by rescue and search teams.
In a series of tweets on Friday night, Erdogan expressed his hope that “the losses of life will not be larger” and added, “We pray that the workers of our mine will be saved.”
He stated that all the relevant institutions operate with great dedication, especially those related to research and rescue work, and that he instructed 3 ministers to go to the accident area to supervise the rescue work.
He underlined the establishment of an emergency response unit in the area, the mobilisation of all local medical teams, and the readiness of ambulances to travel.
The explosion appears to have been caused by a flame, which is a phrase used to describe methane gas in coal mines, according to the Turkish authorities.
Reuters and local media photographers captured images of mine workers’ family and coworkers waiting at the scene of the tragedy and in hospitals where the injured are being treated.
According to Turkish media, it took the government three years to look into the explosion’s causes and conditions.
It is noteworthy that the explosion of the mine yesterday, Friday, is considered one of the most severe disasters in the metal sector in Turkey in recent years, and the worst catastrophe in the Turkish mining sector was in 2014, where 301 workers were killed in the town of Soma, 350 km south of Istanbul.
Al-Jazeera + Agencies is the source.
The rescue effort is finished. Erdogan examines the coal mine that has collapsed and reports the fatality count.
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