Turkey
Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar speaking at a press conference on February 16, 2024. Photo: AA
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Turkish search and rescue teams continue probe to locate six workers trapped in a goldmine after a massive landslide. Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar told Rudaw on Friday that the teams have intensified their work to find the workers.
In response to Rudaw’s Rawin Sterk during a press conference, Bayraktar said that the landslide occurred in an area of 801 kilometers, trapping the six workers.
“Using certain methods, we have narrowed down and reduced it to specific areas … therefore we will look into these points,” Bayraktar said.
“We believe that three of our brothers are on the manganese mine side … and now we will intensify our work in those areas,” he added.
A landslide on Wednesday struck the Anagold Madencilik company’s Copler mine in Ilic, Erzincan province, leaving at least nine workers missing.
Over 800 search and rescue personnel had been deployed to search for the missing workers, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said at the time.
According to Turkish media, four senior officials were arrested on Wednesday in connection with the landslide.
The mine had been previously closed in 2020 due to a cyanide leak into the Euphrates River and was re-opened again two years later. The Environment Ministry said that a stream leading to the river had been closed to prevent the contamination of the water.
The cause of the landslide has not been determined but Turkey has a record of mine-related incidents. An explosion at a coal mine on the Black Sea killed 41 workers in 2022.
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