Turkish minister: mine death toll may be about 300

Two miners look around after being rescued hours after an explosion and fire at a coal mine killed at least 17 miners and left up to 300 workers trapped underground, in Soma, in western Turkey, late Tuesday, May 13, 2014, a Turkish official said. Twenty people were rescued from the mine but one later died in the hospital, Soma administrator Mehmet Bahattin Atci told reporters. The town is 250 kilometers (155 miles) south of Istanbul. The death toll was expected to rise. AP

SOMA, Turkey—Turkey’s energy minister said Friday that a maximum of 18 miners still remain underground inside a devastated coal mine and that he expect the final death toll to be around 300.

Although he did not spell it out, Energy Minister Taner Yildiz’s comments suggested that no one else was expected to come out alive from the mine in Soma, western Turkey.

Some 284 miners are known to have died in Turkey’s worst mining disaster.

“We believe that there are no more than 18 people inside the mine,” Yildiz told reporters. He said that was based on reports from families and data provided by the company.

Yildiz said a fire was still burning inside the mine, spreading noxious fumes, but that “it is declining.”

The minister said anyone found to have been negligent about safety at the mine could expect punishment. He said: “We won’t take any notice of their tears.”

Grieving relatives laid their dead to rest in mass burials Thursday, with photos of their loved ones pinned to their chests and chanting the names of lost miners. More funerals were planned for Friday.

RELATED STORIES

Violent protests erupt after big Turkey mining disaster

 Teams race to rescue trapped Turkish miners