Istanbul The Turkish Authorities announced that 28 people were killed and dozens were trapped in a coal mine explosion in the north of the country.
The accident occurred last night in the Amasra region, on the Black Sea coast in the north of the country, and the depth of the mine is more than 250 meters.
Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said rescue teams had rescued 11 people. It is believed that dozens are trapped underground, hundreds of meters deep, amid attempts by rescue teams to get them out.
For his part, Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said: “We are facing a very unfortunate situation, as there were 110 miners working underground, some of whom went out without assistance, while others were rescued.”
Sources at the scene suggested that the reason behind the explosion might be the accumulation of methane gas.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed his condolences for the victims of the mine explosion, stressing that all relevant institutions are working with great dedication, especially those related to the search and rescue work that they started quickly.
He indicated that he instructed 3 ministers to go to the area of the accident to see and closely supervise the facts of the incident and rescue work.
Erdogan said in a tweet to him: that all medical staff and hospitals in the region are mobilized to treat the injured, with the Ministry of Health establishing an emergency response unit in the region, and the readiness of ambulances to move immediately when necessary.
Erdogan stressed that the relevant authorities had opened an investigation to reveal the causes and circumstances of the explosion, and appointed 3 public prosecutors in this regard.
The Turkish President called on his people not to be drawn into misleading news related to the explosion incident, and to elicit their information from official institutions and the statements issued by them only.
Source: National Iraqi News Agency