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An explosion and fire in a Turkish coal mine has killed 205 people and the death toll could rise with hundreds more still trapped, the country’s energy minister has said.
Speaking to reporters at the scene of the disaster on Tuesday, Energy Minister Taner Yildiz said 787 workers were inside the mine when the blast hit a power unit. Another 76 people were injured and hospitalised, he said.
Yildiz said most of the deaths were the result of carbon monoxide poisoning.
“Time is working against us,” Yildiz said, adding that some of the workers were 420 metres deep inside the mine, located in the town of Soma, about 250km south of Istanbul. He said some 400 rescuers were involved in the operation.
Authorities had earlier said that the blast left between 200 to 300 miners underground and were preparing for the possibility that the death toll could jump dramatically, making arrangements to set up a cold storage facility to hold the corpses of miners recovered from the site. Earlier reports from Turkey’s disaster and emergency management agency put the death toll at 17, with up to 300 men still trapped in the mine.
Caroline Malone, reporting from Soma, said hundreds of people — along with ambulances and fire engines — had gathered around the scene of the accident to try help with the rescue effort.
“One of the largest concerns for the miners trapped is getting clean air to them. And they [rescuers] were pumping clean air 12 hours ago and overnight to try and get rid of carbon monoxide, but the rescue effort had to be temporarily halted overnight because of the rising levels of carbon monoxide,” she said.
In televised comments, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said “evacuation efforts are under way. — Al Jazeera
Online Reporter