Mine starts operations in disaster-hit Soma, owned by same controversial company

MANİSA – Anadolu Agency

The Işıklar mine started operations on Sept. 9, with around 2,000 miners working at the site. AA Photo

A new coal mine, owned by the same firm that also owns the mine where 301 miners were killed in the Soma mine disaster in May, has started operations, according to Soma District Governor Mehmet Bahattin Atçı, in the western province of Manisa.

Atçı said the Işıklar mine started operations on Sept. 9, with around 2,000 miners working at the site. He also stressed that inspectors had given a positive preliminary safety report for the mine.

The district governor added that inspectors were continuing their work at the nearby Atabacası mine and would conclude their report by next week.

“The insufficiencies at the mine written in the reports have been dealt with. Many materials, including oxygen masks, have been changed. Some of them were only standard and have been changed with materials that are better than standard. There were media reports criticizing the insufficiency of masks used in the mines. I think this situation has changed,” said Atçı.

He also touched on the situation at the disaster-struck Eynez mine, where 301 miners were killed in the tragic explosion in May. “That mine is still in a very bad situation. It was closed for months [after the accident],” he said.

The May 13 disaster was the largest in Turkey’s history.

Following the disaster officials closed down the Eymir mine, along with the nearby Işıklar and Ata Bacası mines, all of which belong to the same company, Soma Holding.

The company’s technical workers recently completed maintenance work at the Işıklar and Ata Bacası mines, after which it appealed to the Inspection Board of the Labor and Social Security Ministry.

Inspectors from the ministry subsequently examined both mines, followed by another group of inspectors from the Energy and Natural Resources Ministry.