Turkey coal mine disaster: Desperate search at Soma pit
BBC News online -- 14 May 2014
Mr Erdogan said the government would leave "no stone unturned" when investigating the cause of the disaster
Rescuers
are hunting desperately for scores of Turkish coal miners still missing
after an explosion caused a pit to collapse, killing at least 238.
On a visit to Soma, PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan said every aspect of the tragedy would be investigated and "no stone would be left unturned".
Frantic relatives have gathered at the mine, waiting for news of loved ones.
At the scene
"My son was two months away from retirement," sobbed an elderly woman waiting at Soma's hospital. She held up two fingers to make her point and closed her eyes to stop herself from crying any further.
The hospital grounds have been taken over by the families of the trapped miners. Their wait has now become a vigil. Some sit and stare at the ground. Others sob. Every few minutes paramedics clear the crowd to take away someone who has fainted.
Dozens press up against the blue police barricades set up at the entrance to the hospital. They're desperate for news of the trapped miners. And they have nowhere else to go.
As ambulances took away an
increasing number of bodies, some of the bereaved wailed uncontrollably
and were carried away by their families.
Mr Erdogan said 80 of those rescued had been treated for injuries, none of which were serious. Nineteen of these had already been discharged from hospital.
"I just want everybody to know that the disaster will be investigated in every aspect and will continue to be investigated and we are not going to allow any negligence, or leave any stone unturned," he told journalists in Soma.
Earlier he announced three days of mourning for the victims.
The BBC's James Reynolds in Soma says family members of missing miners are gathered at the hospital. They told him they would not move from there until they got information about their loved ones.
Meanwhile police fired tear gas and water cannon at about 800 protesters angered by the disaster as they tried to march from a university in Ankara to the energy ministry.
The BBC's Rengin Arslan filmed the scene on the ground, with anxious relatives waiting close to the rescue operation
Energy Minister Taner Yildiz said 787 people had been inside the mine when an electrical fault triggered the blast.
He added that carbon monoxide poisoning had claimed many lives.
The electrical fault triggered a power cut, making the mine cages unusable. Those trapped are reported to be 2km (1.2 miles) below the surface and 4km from the mine entrance.
The blast happened at about 12:30 GMT on Tuesday.
People still waiting for news of missing relatives gathered at the hospital in Soma, Manisa province
An injured miner is rescued from the mine
For some, such as this father reunited with his son, it is good news
But the agonising wait continues for many othersBut by mid-morning, reporters at the scene said only the dead were being recovered.
The nightmare is that so many obstacles stand in the way of efforts to rescue any survivors.
Most seriously, the explosion cut the power supply and put the lifts out of action. Lighting would have gone off, plunging the tunnels into darkness and stopping the ventilation system. They're pumping in air, but will it be enough to stop a rapid drop in oxygen? Freshly exposed coal sucks in oxygen so new supplies are vital.
The lack of ventilation also means levels of potentially toxic carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide have been rising. And all the time smoke would have rapidly built up after the explosion, cutting visibility, making access far harder, and sadly reducing the chances of getting people out alive.
Emine Gulsen, one of a group of
women sitting near the entrance to the mine, cried: "My son is gone, my
Mehmet." Mehmet, 31, had been working there for five years.
The Soma mine was privatised in 2005.
An MP with Turkey's opposition CHP party has accused the government of rejecting a recent proposal for a parliamentary inquiry into mine accidents in Soma.
Ozgur Ozel told Today's Zaman newspaper that the motion had substantial support among opposition parties.
Our correspondent says Prime Minister Erdogan will see this tragedy as a test of his reputation, and he will be aware that the previous government lost an election after being seen to have mishandled the 1999 earthquake.
Turkey's worst mining disaster was in 1992, when 263 miners were killed near Zonguldak, on the Black Sea.
Labels: Catastrophe, Human Rights, Turkey
posted by Pieface @ Wednesday, May 14, 2014
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