Turkey Mine Blast: At Least 28 Killed, Dozens Trapped

By Staff, Agencies

Rescuers desperately searched for signs of life on Saturday after a methane blast at a coal mine in northern Turkey killed at least 28 people and trapped dozens of others hundreds of meters underground.

Updating the death toll, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca also tweeted that 11 others pulled out alive were being treated in hospital after one of Turkey's deadliest industrial accidents in years struck Friday at sunset.

"We are facing a truly regretful situation," Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu told reporters earlier after urgently flying to the small coal mining town of Amasra on Turkey's Black Sea coast.

Soylu also confirmed early reports that nearly 50 miners remained trapped in two separate areas between 300 and 350 meters [985 to 1,150 feet] below ground.

Television images showed anxious crowds – some with tears in their eyes – congregating around a damaged white building near the entrance to the pit in search of news for their friends and loved ones.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he would cancel all his other arrangements and fly to the scene of the accident on Saturday.