President Erdogan 'grateful' for int'l solidarity in mine incident

By Trend

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan took to Twitter on Saturday evening to express his gratitude to the international community for their solidarity with Türkiye over the mine blast that killed 41 workers, Trend reports citing Daily Sabah.

"On behalf of the Turkish nation, I would like express our gratitude to all the friendly countries, their peoples and international organizations for sharing our grief and expressing solidarity," President Erdogan stated.

Rescue teams reached the body of the last worker trapped in the mine on Saturday. At least 110 miners were working in the shaft when the explosion occurred on Friday evening.

President Erdogan visited the site earlier Saturday, expressed his condolences and took part in the funeral of some of the workers. Erdogan, who canceled a planned trip to Diyarbakir and instead visited the incident site in the town of Bartin's Amasra, said the search and rescue operation was complete.

According to Energy Minister Fatih Donmez, initial findings indicate the blast was caused by firedamp, an explosive mixture of flammable gases in mines.

A total of 11 wounded workers are under treatment in hospitals.

An investigation into the incident is underway, Erdogan said.

The blast is one of the deadliest industrial disasters in Türkiye's recent history. In 2014, 301 people were killed in Türkiye's worst mining disaster at a coal mine in the Aegean province of Manisa.