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Explosion at Turkish mine leaves miners trapped, wounded

18 May 2010 [11:52] - TODAY.AZ
An explosion at a coal mine in the northern province of Zonguldak on Monday has wounded 11 and left 32 trapped underground.

The explosion occurred at roughly 1:30 p.m. at a mine run by the Turkish Anthracite Coal Foundation, or TTK. The wounded people, who are not reported to be in critical condition, have been transferred to various hospitals around Zonguldak.

Ömer Dinçer, the minister of labor and social security, confirmed the number of the workers trapped inside the mine and said efforts were ongoing to rescue them.

“The officials of the contactor firm said the miners working at the codes of minus 360 and 460 are not affected in any way,” Zonguldak Gov. Erdal Ata said while en route to the site. “However, it is reported that the miners working at the code of minus 540 could not yet be reached. I hope there will be no dead or wounded.”

The explosion may have been caused by a malfunction in the electrical system, according to Mahmut Özçelik, TTK’s acting general manager. “The evacuation teams have entered the mine to reach the trapped,” he said. “We do not think there has been a cave-in, but we have not been able to hear from the miners either.”

“The communication system of the mine malfunctioned with the explosion; that is why we have not been able to communicate with the miners,” said Çetin Onur, TTK’s deputy general manager. “The rescue teams are going down into the mine from another shaft. We will have more information when they reach [those trapped].”


/Hurriyet Daily News/
URL: http://www.today.az/news/regions/68140.html

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