At least five dead after mine collapse in Turkey as authorities launch negligence investigation

Turkish rescuers on Friday recovered the bodies of three miners who had been trapped following a mine collapse in western Turkey, bringing the death toll from the incident to five, local authorities said. In a separate accident, another miner was killed on Friday when an unlicensed mine collapsed in Kilimli, a town on Turkey’s northwestern Black Sea coast, according to media reports. The first collapse occurred on Thursday at a mine in Manisa province, about 100 kilometres (60 miles) northeast of the resort city of Izmir.

"Search and rescue operations carried out after the mine collapse in Soma district have ended and the bodies of the three mine workers who were trapped have been recovered," the governor's office said on X early Friday. Seven workers were initially caught in the collapse. Rescue teams recovered the bodies of two miners and took two others to hospital, while three remained trapped underground, Justice Minister Akin Gurlek said on X. Their bodies were recovered early Friday, raising the death toll to five.

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Gurlek has ordered an investigation into the incident. Nine company executives, including the manager of the mine operator, were detained on suspicion of negligence following the collapse, DHA news agency reported. A union official who spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity said coal production had been declining as existing mining areas became over-exploited. A new section of the mine was consequently being developed.

"This section was not yet operational," he said, adding that financial pressures on management were "increasing the pressure to speed up" the work. The incident took place in Soma, the site of Turkey’s deadliest mining disaster. In 2014, 301 miners died from carbon monoxide poisoning after an underground fire was triggered by an explosion. The latest accidents have again highlighted safety concerns in Turkey’s mining sector, particularly as authorities investigate the circumstances surrounding the Soma collapse and the separate fatal incident at the unlicensed mine in Kilimli.