Five miners killed in Turkey
The miners were digging a shaft when the explosion occurred near the Black Sea port town of Zonguldak, home to Turkey’s richest coal reserves, Cetin Onur, deputy manager of Turkey’s state-run coal mining institution, told the Anatolia news agency.
About 30 Chinese miners are employed by a private company specialising in digging shafts in coal mines in Zonguldak, 270km north of the capital, Ankara.
Accidents often occur in Turkish mines due to high concentrations of methane gas, safety violations and outdated equipment.
In Turkey’s worst mining disaster, 270 workers were killed in 1992 in a gas explosion in the Kozlu mine near Zonguldak.
