Turkish coal mine explosion kills at least 200
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.
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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.
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