M A I N   N E W S

245 perish in Turkey mine blast
Nearly 450 other miners rescued, many still trapped
Violent protest erupts in Soma district

Soma (Turkey), May 14
The death toll in the coal mine explosion and fire in western Turkey's Soma district increased to 245 today, officials said. Nearly 450 other miners were rescued, but the fate of an unknown number of others remained unclear in one of the world's deadliest mining disasters in decades.

An injured miner is carried to an ambulance after being rescued from a coal mine he was trapped in Soma district of Turkey on Wednesday; and (above) aggrieved relatives of miners. REUTERS

The explosion tore through the mine as workers were preparing for a shift change, officials said, which probably raised the casualty toll because there were more miners inside the mine than usual.

Tensions were high as hundreds of relatives and miners jostled outside the coal mine waiting for news, countered by a heavy police presence. Rows of women wailed uncontrollably, men knelt sobbing and others just stared in disbelief as rescue workers removed a steady stream of bodies throughout the night and early morning. Others shouted at Turkish officials as they passed by.

In downtown Soma, protesters mostly in their teens and 20s faced off against riot police today afternoon in front of the ruling NKP party headquarters.

In Istanbul, hundreds of demonstrators gathered outside the headquarters of Soma Holding, the company that owns the mine.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared three days of national mourning, ordering flags to be lowered to half-staff. Erdogan postponed a one-day visit to Albania and visited Soma instead.

Mining accidents are common in Turkey, which is plagued by poor safety conditions. Turkey's worst mining disaster was a 1992 gas explosion that killed 263 workers near the Black Sea port of Zonguldak. Energy Minister Taner Yildiz said 787 people were inside the coal mine in Soma at the time of the explosion and 363 of them had been rescued so far.

"Regarding the rescue operation, I can say that our hopes are diminishing," Yildiz said. Turkey's Labour and Social Security Ministry said the mine had been inspected five times since 2012, including in March, and that no issues violating work safety and security were detected. — Agencies