Time is running out for 18 miners trapped in central Turkey coal mine

Energy Minister Taner Yıldız has announced that time is running out in the flooded Karaman mine as the water level keeps rising a meter every two hours. 'This is the third flooding,' a survivor has said, blaming the operating company 18 workers have been trapped at a coal mine in the Central Anatolian province of Karaman on Oct. 28.

The accident occurred around noon at a coal mine near the Pamuklu village in the province’s Ermenek district.

Rescue teams and ambulances have been dispatched to the area.

The incident occurred when water that had accumulated underground flooded a gallery, Karaman Governor Murat Koca told Anadolu Agency.

“Over 40 workers were in the mine at the time of the incident, when there was a problem in one gallery. The other workers left the mine but 20 miners were left working in the flooded gallery,” Koca said.

‘They might have drowned’

An official from the mine said 18 miners remained trapped after water flooded a gallery, while eight others managed to escape. He added that those who remained may have drowned.
 
“We are pumping the water to rescue them. There is 50 meters of water, 350 meters underground. The masks can resist for two hours. There are two places where they can escape. But they may have drowned, because the water flooded [the gallery] suddenly,” Şahin Uyar told private broadcaster NTV.

Energy Minister Taner Yıldız and Transport Minister Lütfi Elvan have arrived in Ermenek to observe the rescue operations at the mine. The main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) has also sent representatives to the site, headed by the party's General Secretary Gürsel Tekin.

"Only one pump is working to discharge...