17 killed in coal mine explosion in western Turkey

At least 17 miners have been killed after a methane gas explosion ripped through a coal mine in western Turkey, local media reported.

The explosion took place at the Odakoy mine near the town of Dursunbey in Balikesir province at around 6 p.m. local time (1600 GMT).

Balikesir Governor Yilmaz Arslan said that the Tuesday evening blast caused a shaft to collapse at the mine, the CNN-Turk television network reported.

Arslan added that 12 miners lost their lives as a result of the explosion, while the other five succumbed to severe burns they had sustained in the incident.

There are no other miners inside and searches have been brought to a standstill, he added.

Rescuers could not enter the mine for several hours due to a high concentration of gas. Air was pumped into the mine to try to dissipate the gas as rescuers waited for experienced miners to arrive.

Turkish Labor Minister Omer Dincer has ordered a thorough investigation of the incident.

Accidents are frequent in Turkish mines due to safety violations, outdated equipment, and high concentrations of methane gas.

Seventeen miners were killed in a methane gas explosion at a coal mine in western Balikesir province three years ago. In Turkey’s worst mining disaster, a gas explosion killed 270 workers near the Black Sea port of Zonguldak in 1992.