Soma, Manisa

May 13 marked the fifth anniversary of Turkey's deadliest ever mining accident, with the families of the victims flocking to the graves of their loved ones in the Soma district of the western province of Manisa amid commemoration ceremonies.

A Turkish court has handed out hefty jail sentences over the death of 301 miners in Turkey's deadliest ever mine disaster in the Soma district of the western province of Manisa on May 13, 2014.

Relatives of the 301 miners who lost their lives in Turkey's deadliest ever mine disaster in the Soma district of the western province of Manisa on May 13, 2014 visited the graves of the slain workers on the fourth anniversary of the disaster.

A prosecutor demanded the arrest of Soma Holding's chairman Alp Gürkan on March 26 over the 2014 disaster that claimed the lives of 301 miners in the Soma district of the Aegean province of Manisa. 

The district of Soma will commemorate the first anniversary of Turkey's deadliest mining accident, in which 301 miners were killed, in a modest way on May 13. 

The Manisa Metropolitan Municipality together with the district governorship and the Maden-?? Union will organize separate commemoration events in the Aegean district of Soma. 

More than 2,800 miners have been laid off in the Aegean coal capital of Soma, hit by the deadliest mining accident of Turkey's history.

The Soma Coal Mining Company, which operates the Eynez mine where 301 workers were killed in May, stated that its contract with Turkish Coal Enterprises expired in May 2014 and the contracts of 2,831 miners had been canceled as of Nov. 30.

The death toll in the in the coal mine explosion and fire in western Turkey has increased to 282, according to Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz.

The government said 787 people had been inside the coal mine in Soma when an electrical fault triggered the blast soon after midday on Tuesday. A total of 363 were rescued.