The Sunday News
SOMA (Turkey) – Rescue workers began winding up their operations yesterday after finding the bodies of two more miners, believed to be the last remaining in the mine, bringing the death toll in Turkey’s worst industrial disaster to 301, the energy minister said.
Earlier a new fire broke out in the mine, hindering the rescue teams. Taner Yildiz said it had been extinguished and two more dead workers found. He said the numbers added up with the missing persons’ information provided by families.
“The newly discovered workers will be brought up and given back to their families. If there is no further demand to us and, the information we have backs that up, then we will have finished our search work,” he said.
However, he said rescue teams would first conduct a final search throughout the mine before making a decision on ending the operation, four days after an initial fire sent deadly carbon monoxide coursing through it.
The disaster triggered angry protests across Turkey, aimed at mine owners accused of ignoring safety for profit, and at Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan’s government, seen as too close to industry bosses and insensitive in its reaction to the tragedy. — Reuters.
