Two workers killed in illegal mine collapse in Turkey’s Zonguldak

ZONGULDAK

Two workers were killed when an unlicensed coal mine collapsed in the Black Sea province of Zonguldak’s Kilimli district on July 7, Demirören News Agency has reported.

The incident came to light when one of the workers trapped under the wreckage managed to get out and notify the officials, upon which ambulances and rescue teams were dispatched to the scene of the incident.

Following about four hours of search efforts, Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD) teams pulled out the lifeless bodies of Erkan Cankurt, 45, and Hasan Yıldız, 30. Their bodies were then taken to Atatürk State Hospital in the province.

Meanwhile, one mine worker who joined the rescue works suffered from lack of oxygen and was hospitalized.

The collapsed mine is reported to have officially been shut down in 2016.

Accidents have beset Turkey’s mining industry in recent years, with the country’s worst ever industrial disaster occuring in May 2014, when 301 coal miners were killed in the western district of Soma.