Turkey
Search and rescue teams dispatched to the location of the collapsed mine in Elzaig on February 26, 2024. Photo: AA
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Turkish officials announced on Monday that four workers were rescued after being trapped when a chrome mine collapsed in the Kurdish province of Elazig (Xarpet).
Four workers were trapped underground after a privately owned chrome mine collapsed in Elazig’s Palu district at around 10 am Turkey time, the country’s energy and natural resources ministry announced on X.
“One of them [the workers] was able to rescue himself from the dent on his own,” stated the ministry, adding that only one worker had been injured.
Turkey's Disaster Management Authority (AFAD) announced on X later in the day that its search and rescue teams rescued the three other workers from the mine.
A probe has been launched into the incident, according to the statement from the energy ministry.
The incident is the second of its kind this month. A landslide on February 13 struck another privately owned mine in Ilic, Erzincan province, leaving at least nine workers missing.
The Erzincan mine had been previously closed in 2020 due to a cyanide leak into the Euphrates River and was reopened two years later. The environment ministry said at the time that a stream leading to the river had been closed to prevent the contamination of its waters.
Turkey has a track record dotted with numerous mine-related incidents. An explosion at a coal mine on the Black Sea killed 41 workers in 2022, and in May 2014 a blast at a coal mine in the country’s western province of Manisa killed 301 workers. The blast sparked public outrage, with protesters demanding the resignation of then Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government.
Four workers were trapped underground after a privately owned chrome mine collapsed in Elazig’s Palu district at around 10 am Turkey time, the country’s energy and natural resources ministry announced on X.
“One of them [the workers] was able to rescue himself from the dent on his own,” stated the ministry, adding that only one worker had been injured.
Turkey's Disaster Management Authority (AFAD) announced on X later in the day that its search and rescue teams rescued the three other workers from the mine.
A probe has been launched into the incident, according to the statement from the energy ministry.
The incident is the second of its kind this month. A landslide on February 13 struck another privately owned mine in Ilic, Erzincan province, leaving at least nine workers missing.
The Erzincan mine had been previously closed in 2020 due to a cyanide leak into the Euphrates River and was reopened two years later. The environment ministry said at the time that a stream leading to the river had been closed to prevent the contamination of its waters.
Turkey has a track record dotted with numerous mine-related incidents. An explosion at a coal mine on the Black Sea killed 41 workers in 2022, and in May 2014 a blast at a coal mine in the country’s western province of Manisa killed 301 workers. The blast sparked public outrage, with protesters demanding the resignation of then Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government.
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