A Turkish coal mine blast in the Bartin province on Friday killed 22 people, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said, but it was not clear how many people were still trapped due to the blast that occurred as 110 people were working.
Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said that at the time of the blast, 49 people had been working 300 meters and 350 meters (985 to 1,148 feet) underground, describing it as a risky zone.
Soylu told reporters at the scene of the blast:
“There are those whom we were able to evacuate from that area. There are those whom we were not able to evacuate from that area.”
Turkish Energy Minister, Faith Donmez said that the initial indications were that the blast was caused by firedamp, a term referring to methane in coal mines.
Some miners were taken out and carried off to ambulances on stretchers, footage showed.
There are no ongoing fires inside the mine and the ventilation inside was working properly, Donmez said, adding that there were partial collapses inside the mine.
The explosion occurred 300 meters (985 feet) below the entrance of the mine at around 1515 GMT, the Bartin governor’s office said.
Bartin prosecutor’s office has announced that it had launched an investigation into the cause of the explosion.
In a statement, President Tayyip Erdogan said:
“Our hope is that the loss of life will not increase further, that our miners will be saved safely and all our efforts are in this direction.”
