Ermenek coal mine, owned by a company formerly called Has Sekerler now Özşeker, is a coal mine in the Turkish town of

Ermenek Ermenek is a town and district of Karaman Province in the Mediterranean region of Turkey. As ancient Germanicopolis (in Isauria; has namesakes), a former bishopric, it remains a Latin Catholic titular see. The district forms the core of the plat ...

. On October 28, 2014, 18 miners were trapped underground. It was the second major accident at a Turkish mine in six months; the previous one was the

Soma mine disaster On 13 May 2014, blasting at Eynez coal mine in Soma, Manisa, Turkey, caused an underground mine fire, which burned until 15 May. In total, 301 people were killed in what was the worst mine disaster in Turkey's history. The mine, operated by ...

in May 2014.

Accident

It is believed 18 miners were trapped about 300 meters underground by flooding caused by a broken pipe. In addition to those trapped, 20 workers have either escaped the mine or were rescued from it. Rescue workers are currently working to pump water out from three sections of the mine. On October 30, Energy Minister

Taner Yıldız Taner Yıldız (born 3 April 1962 in Devecipınar, Boğazlıyan, Yozgat Province) is a Turkish politician. He is a member of the Justice and Development Party and served as the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources between 2009 and 2015. T ...

stated that this operation was being hampered by mud and damage within the mine. An official from the mine, which is privately owned, said the chances of the trapped miners making it to safety were slim unless they had been able to reach a safety gallery. Two of the miners' bodies have been located. On November 9, Yıldız said that arrest warrants for eight people had been issued, including the owner of the mine.

Reactions

Tayyip Erdogan Tayyip () is a Turkish given name for males. Tayyip may refer to: * Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (born 1954), Turkish politician, and Prime Minister of the Republic of Turkey from 2003 to 2014, and current President of Turkey since 2014 * Tayyip Talha ...

, the President of Turkey, cancelled planned

Republic Day Republic Day is the name of a holiday in several countries to commemorate the day when they became republics. List January 1 January in Slovak Republic The day of creation of Slovak republic. A national holiday since 1993. Officially cal ...

celebrations due to the accident, and also visited the mine on October 29.

References

Coal mining disasters in Turkey 2014 mining disasters 2014 in Turkey 2014 disasters in Turkey Coal mines in Turkey {{Mine-stub