Turkish coal mine explosion kills at least 200

Getty Images Europe

Turkish coal mine explosion kills at least 200
(Image credit: Getty Images Europe)

At least 200 coal miners in western Turkey were killed on Tuesday after an apparent electrical explosion caused a fire in the mine. More than 360 of the 787 people in the mine were evacuated, but the remaining 200-plus miners are trapped. The rescue effort is ongoing, but it's "reaching a critical stage," Energy Minister Taner Yildiz said early Wednesday. The mine is outside of the town of Soma, about 155 miles south of Istanbul. The numbers are still fluid, complicated by the explosion hitting during a shift change.

Turkey's worst mining disaster on record was in 1992, when a gas explosion killed 263 workers near Zonguldak, on the Black Sea coast east of Istanbul.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.