YEREVAN, OCTOBER 15, ARTSAKHPRESS. At least 28 people have died and dozens remain trapped underground after an explosion in a coal mine in northern Turkey’s Bartin province, BBC reports.
Around 110 people were in the mine at the time of the blast on Friday, almost half of them at over 300 metres deep.
Turkey’s health minister Fahrettin Koca said 11 people had been rescued and were being treated.
Emergency crews worked through the night, digging through rock to try to reach more survivors.
The explosion is believed to have occurred at around 300m deep. Some 49 people were working in the “risky” zone between 300 and 350m (985 to 1,150ft) underground, Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said.
The cause of the blast is not yet known, and the local prosecutor’s office has begun an investigation.
