Nine miners trapped alive at Turkish mine

Nine workers have been trapped after a cave-in at a private mining facility in the Black Sea province of Zonguldak, according to initial reports. 

Zonguldak Governor Ali Kaban told Anadolu Agency that all nine workers are alive and have not sustained any injuries, expressing confidence that they would be rescued in the next few hours.
Teams from the state-run Turkish Coal Institute (TTK) and the Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD) have also been deployed.

Rescue work starts late

The rescue work, however, started around nine hours late as the engineer in charge did not report the accident to the officials.

“The accident took place at around 3:00 a.m. but the engineer of the mine did not report it to the authorities. The father of the one of the miners trapped inside reported the issue to the police at around 11:40 a.m. and then we learned about the issue. All the correct measures have been taken,” said Kaban, adding that an investigation into the engineer been opened.

Eyüp Alabaş, the head of Genel Maden İşçileri Sendikası, the sector union, said the slide occurred at the ceiling of the main gallery and contact with the trapped miners was being maintained as efforts to save them continue.

Some 301 miners were killed in a May 13 mine disaster, the largest in the country’s history, in the western town of Soma, highlighting once again the bad working conditions at mines across Turkey.
Zonguldak is the heart of coal mining in Turkey and has witnessed a number of accidents since the Soma disaster.