The last miner reported missing after the explosion at the Amasra coal mine in northwestern Turkey was found dead this morning.
This was announced by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who arrived at the scene of the tragedy, specifying that the death toll from the explosion has "risen to 41 victims".
Thus ended the rescue operations that had been going on for over 20 hours after the explosion that took place last night.
"We are really facing a sad picture," said the minister, who rushed to the scene together with the energy minister, Fatih Donmez.
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According to preliminary information, the explosion was caused by a grisou
(gas mixture consisting of methane, or other hydrocarbons that forms spontaneously in coal mines and in contact with the air it ignites and explodes)", he explained. Donmez.
Rescue teams tried to rescue dozens of workers trapped in tunnels on Friday evening.
Rescue and medical teams, as well as family members of the trapped miners, many of them with tears in their eyes, were visible in the first images broadcast by the Turkish media from the entrance to the mine.
The Turkish state disaster management agency Afad initially announced on Twitter that the cause of the explosion was a faulty transformer, but later retracted the statement.