Mine accident in Turkey: Erdogan believes in "fate" - a worker's sister confronts him

Created: 10/16/2022 13:08

By: Bedrettin Bölükbasi, Stella Henrich, Magdalena Fürthauer

A mine gas explosion occurred in a Turkish mine on Friday.

41 people are dead, the sister of a victim is now confronting President Erdogan.

• Mine accident in Turkey

  : On Friday evening there was an explosion in a coal mine.

• 41 dead

  miners:

  mine gas

  apparently exploded at a depth of 300 meters.

• Turkish President at the scene of the accident

  : Erdogan speaks of

  "fate"

  while the sister of a victim criticizes him sharply.

• This

  news ticker

  on the mine accident in Turkey is continuously updated.

Update from October 15, 7:15 p.m.:

After the mine accident in Turkey, more and more survivors are now talking to the local media about the events.

"Everything collapsed with a huge explosion, I was just able to escape," a miner told the private news agency

.

Another says they dragged "the dead bodies of our colleagues" out of the Turkish mine.

The television cameras also showed another survivor who apparently refused to be taken to the hospital.

"Leave me, I'm fine, I want to go back," he said and after a short treatment joined the rescue teams, as recordings by the

broadcaster show.

Turkish President at the scene of the accident: Victim's sister confronts Erdogan

Update from October 15, 5:15 p.m.:

With tears in her eyes, the sister of a miner who died in the Bartin accident confronted the Turkish head of state Recep Tayyip Erdogan live on television.

He met with the workers' families after the funeral of the worker Rahman Özcelik.

"10-15 days ago my brother said, 'There's a gas leak here, they're going to blow us up,'" the sister of a miner told Erdogan.

She asked him how the danger was neglected: "My brother guessed it, my brother died in front of everyone." Erdogan listened to the woman without comment and only expressed his condolences to the crowd.

The Turkish journalist Ibrahim Haskologlu published the excerpt from the live broadcast on Twitter.

Turkey: President Erdogan pledges support to victims of mine accident and believes in "fate"

Update from October 15, 5 p.m.:

In Bartin, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan commented on the mine accident, in which 41 workers have died so far.

He attended the funeral of worker Rahman Özcelik.

Erdoğan assured that the state would take care of the families of the "mine martyrs" and support them with a total of 1.35 million Turkish lira.

"By using all technological capabilities, we continue to work to put mine accidents behind us," Erdogan said.

Previously, he emphasized that the mine only had the "most advanced systems".

Erdogan added: "We don't want to see any more gaps, no more unnecessary risks in our mines."

Another statement by the Turkish head of state is likely to cause sharp criticism.

"Some may make fun of it, but we are people who believe in the plan of fate," said the President, adding that one must be aware that there will always be such disasters.

Erdogan made a similar statement about the Soma accident in 2014.

The Turkish population sees this as an attempt by the government to play down insufficient controls and security gaps.

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Turkish President Erdogan at the scene of the accident: only the "most advanced systems" in the face - opposition voices criticism

Update from October 15, 4:45 p.m .:

In the meantime, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has also arrived at the scene of the accident.

Previously, the last missing person could only be found dead, which means that the number of victims has risen to 41.

"We are very sad as a nation," said Erdogan during a press conference not far from the coal mine.

The most advanced systems were used, but such accidents would always happen, “no matter what you do.” Eleven other workers were also injured in the explosion, and a total of 58 people were saved.

At the same time, however, there is criticism of the safety of the mine and the working conditions.

The main opposition party, the Social Democratic CHP, announced on Saturday that the authorities had ignored a report by the Court of Auditors from 2019, which warned of the danger of a mine gas explosion due to high methane levels in the mine.

As already described, Erdogan speaks of flawless systems.

41 dead miners in Turkey: Apparently mine gas exploded at a depth of 300 meters

Update from October 15, 3:31 p.m .:

The number of dead rises to 41 miners.

Apparently mine gas exploded at a depth of 300 meters.

It was a methane gas explosion, reports correspondent Oliver Meyer-Rüth ​​from ARD Istanbul.

Update from October 15, 12:09 p.m .:

The number of dead miners after the heavy explosion in a Turkish coal mine has risen to at least 40.

This was confirmed by Turkish Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu on Saturday to journalists at the site of the state-run mine in Bartin province on the Black Sea. 

Mine accident in Turkey: explosion in coal mine - several people dead

First report

: Istanbul – The Turkish rescue service is deployed in northern Turkey with several rescue teams.

Dozens of miners were buried in an explosion at a coal mine in the northeastern Black Sea port city of Amasra on Friday.

The detonation occurred on Friday around 6:15 p.m. local time (5:15 p.m. CEST).

Several people died in the accident in the mine at a depth of about 300 meters.

initially reported 25 dead.

The authorities fear more victims.

20 miners are said to have been injured.

This is reported by the broadcaster

14 miners have been rescued so far or have been able to leave the pit on their own.

According to various media reports, at least 49 pit works are still underground.

Mining accident in Amasra in Turkey.

(symbol image) © imago

Mine accident in Turkey: cause of the explosion still unclear

More than 15 hours after the explosion, rescue workers from the Turkish aid organization Red Crescent and civil protection are trying to rescue more victims, as can be seen in pictures from the TV channel NTV.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan wants to visit the scene of the accident today.

He announced this on Twitter.

An investigation into the incident has been launched.

The exact cause is still unclear at this point in time.

However, it is suspected that the explosion was triggered by mine gas.

The government plans to hold a press conference on the accident on Saturday.

Mine disaster in Turkey: The worst disaster happened in 2014

In 2014, a total of 301 people died in a fire in a coal mine in western Turkey in Turkey's worst mining disaster to date.

The tragedy triggered protests against the government of then Prime Minister Erdogan,

reports

Five pit officials were sentenced to prison terms, the maximum being 22 years and six months.

Devastating accident in Turkish mine

View photo gallery

The reason for accidents at work in Turkey is often said to be the disregard of safety rules, especially in the construction and mining industries.