Miners missing in Zonguldak

Anxious families arrived on at the site of a Turkish coal mine where 30 miners are feared trapped nearly 24 hours after an underground explosion that injured at least eight of their colleagues. Rescue efforts were hampered when a passage dug by rescuers collapsed and members of the 400-strong team were forced to approach the trapped miners by a different route, more than 2,000 meters away from the site of the explosion.

“We haven’t been able to reach the trapped miners. They haven’t been found yet,” said Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz who was part of a ministerial delegation visiting the scene on Monday.

Some 40 miners were reported to have been working in two separate areas at a depth of about 540 meters when the explosion happened on Monday. There has been no communication with the missing miners since.

Rescuers have burrowed through debris clogging a chamber where workers have been trapped nearly 1700 feet under the surface for 24 hours, as teary-eyed relatives waited outside for news of loved ones.

Turkish broadcaster NTV said there were still high levels of methane in the air inside the mine which raised the risk of another explosion and complicated rescue efforts.

The Black Sea region is Turkey’s largest coal producer, with output primarily focused on fuel for domestic heating needs. Many of Turkey’s mines have poor safety records. In the country’s worst mine disaster, 270 miners were killed near Zonguldak province in 1992.

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Category: HEADLINES, NATIONAL