At least 41 workers killed in coal mine explosion in northern Türkiye

Photos: AA

At least 41 workers were killed in a suspected firedamp explosion late yesterday (October 14) in a mine operated by Türkiye's state-owned coal enterprise in the Amasra district of the northern Bartın province.

Among the 110 workers on the job at the time of the blast, 58 have been rescued, with 11 still under treatment, Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu told reporters today in Bartın.

The incident has become the deadliest mine accident since the 2014 Soma mine explosion, where 301 workers were killed.

Health Minister Fahrettin Koca later said four of the 11 injured workers were in intensive care, with one in critical condition. Six workers were transferred to İstanbul's Çam ve Sakura City Hospital for burn injury treatment with ambulance planes, he added.

The fire broke out in the gallery after the blast was largely under control, Energy and Natural Resources Minister Fahrettin Dönmez said.

Initial findings suggest that the explosion was caused by firedamp, said Dönmez.

"It was only smoke and dust"

Shortly after the blast, Bartın Governor Nurtaç Aslan visited the site, where she encountered a worker who managed to get out of the mine by himself, live TV coverage showed.

He didn't hear an explosion, but he felt "pressure," he told the governor. "It was only smoke and dust. You could see nothing."

Probe into social media users

Shortly after the explosion was reported, the cybercrime department of the General Directorate of Security announced that it had taken legal action against 12 social media users regarding their posts about the incident.

The social media users were considered to have "openly incited our citizens to grudge, hatred and animosity and shared provocative posts," said the directorate. (VK)