The last miner reported missing after the explosion at the Amasra Coal Mine in northwest Turkey was found dead this morning. This was announced by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who arrived at the scene of the tragedy, explaining that the death toll from the explosion “has risen to 41 victims.” Thus ended the rescue operations that lasted for more than 20 hours after the explosion that occurred last night.
“We are really facing a sad picture,” said the minister, who rushed to the scene, accompanied by Energy Minister Fatih Donmez. “According to preliminary information, the explosion was caused by Grisou (a gaseous mixture consisting of methane or other hydrocarbons that spontaneously form in coal mines and come into contact with the air in which they ignite and explode),” Donmes explained.
Rescue teams tried to rescue dozens of workers trapped in the tunnels on Friday evening. Rescue and medical teams, as well as family members of the trapped miners, many of them with tears in their eyes, appeared in the first images broadcast by Turkish media from the entrance to the mine. Turkey’s state disaster management agency initially reported on Twitter that the cause of the explosion was a faulty transformer, but later retracted the statement.
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