Coal mine collapses in western Turkey, killing 1 miner, trapping 11 others

A methane gas explosion ripped through a coal mine in western Turkey Thursday evening, killing at least one miner and injuring six others, authorities said. Eleven others were still trapped.

Photo: Coal mine collapses in western Turkey, killing 1 miner, trapping 11 others

Firefighters and military troops were trying to reach trapped miners in the village of Odakoy in western Balikesir province, private NTV television reported, citing Gov. Selahattin Hatipoglu.

It was not clear at which depth the miners were trapped. Salvage workers earlier evacuated six injured miners and took them to a local hospital.

Hatipoglu said local military commanders were leading the rescue operation at the site, some 475 kilometers (295 miles) south of Istanbul, Turkey's largest city.

Accidents are not uncommon in Turkish mines due to safety violations, outdated equipment and high concentrations of methane gas.

Last June, six miners died of methane gas poisoning when a shaft collapsed in a coal mine near the Black Sea port of Zonguldak. A methane gas explosion in April 2005 killed 18 miners at another coal mine in the town of Gediz in western Kutahya province.

In Turkey's worst mining disaster, a gas explosion killed 270 workers near Zonguldak in 1992, reports AP.

O.Ch.