All suspects deny shortcomings in Soma mine accident hearing

The suspects in Turkey's worst-ever mine disaster denied responsibility for the 2014 accident during the fifth hearing on April 20, precipitating anger among the families of the 301 victims in the courthouse.

The court listened to the testimonies of six suspects - Fuat Ayd?n Ünal, Serkan Kocaman, Soner Günay, Nazmi Cem Nesimo?ullar?, Hüseyin Alkan and Batuhan Ünlüyol - who are being tried without arrest, in the fifth hearing held in Manisa's Akhisar district on April 20. 

Fuat Ayd?n Ünal, an engineer who was responsible for the air conditioning at the Eynez mine in Soma, said he signed off on another person's inspection of air quality, even though he was required to do the check himself.

Ünal said it was his responsibility to fill the notebook about the air quality data inside the mine, but mining engineer Harun Kaymaz wrote the data in the notebook on the day of accident. "The air notebook is 111 pages, but I only filled 19 pages. On April 30, 2014, Harun Y?ld?r?m said he filled the notebook by copying the data from previous days and I signed it. I had to sign it. I did not have enough time to make measurements and write it down. I could not follow the gas data in the mine," he added.
 
Ünal, who has worked in the mine since 2013, said he was the only engineer in the mine who was responsible for the air quality in a 10-kilometer-long web of tunnels. 

Still, he rejected claims that the air quality was not sufficient for the miners, while saying he had not witnessed any emergency drills for the duration of his employments there.

The engineer added that the masks in the mine had only been checked once.

Esma Kaya, mother of Kader Y?ld?r?m, who died in the mine, showed her reaction to the defenses of the...