Arrest warrant issued for 8 people in mine blast investigation

BARTIN

Arrest warrants have been issued for eight people, including executives, during the investigation into the Oct. 14’s mine blast in the northern province of Bartın’s Amasra district, which claimed the lives of 41 people.

An arrest warrant was issued for Cihat Özdemir, the Turkish Hard Coal Enterprises’ (TTK) Amasra head; Salih Atmaca, the TTK’s Amasra deputy head; Volkan Soylu, the deputy director of the occupational safety branch; safety engineer Şahan Kahraman; Selçuk Ekmekçi, the operation manager; chief operating engineer Mehmet Tural; and engineers İbrahim Hakan Mengeş and Levent Aydın.

Özdemir, transferred to the courthouse, was arrested and sent to prison. Mengeş, Aydın, Atmaca, Soylu, Kahraman and Ekmekçi were also arrested for “causing the death of more than one person by negligence.”

Among those arrested was also Tural, while Serkan Özdoğan, the chief electromechanical engineer, was released.

Judicial control provisions and travel bans were applied to four of the seven freed by the court.

The 28-page preliminary report prepared by the expert committee of seven people said the accident could have been prevented “if the ventilation system had been sufficient or if the methane drainage application had been implemented.”