Turkey: Death toll rises to 42 in coal mine explosion
The number of confirmed dead is 42 as rescue services are still searching for unaccounted people under the rubble.
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Rescued mine workers
Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca stated that the death toll from the explosion at the Amasra coal mine in the city of Bartin in northern Turkey has risen to at least 42 people.
On its account, Haber TV channel reported that 11 people are currently being treated in the hospital.
An explosion in a coal mine at 6:15 pm local time on Friday trapped dozens of mine workers 300 meters below ground, with the cause of the explosion is yet to be determined.
According to Haber TV, 115 workers were inside the mine when the explosion happened.
So far, 58 people had been rescued alive. Meanwhile, emergency services are working on freeing the rest, the governor's office added, with some of the rescue teams coming from neighboring provinces.
Other official sources state that two workers managed to come out alive but injured, while 14 others were either rescued or came out of the mine on their own.
A similar incident has previously occurred in 2014 when a fire in a coal mine in the town of Soma, western Turkey, caused 301 people to die, the country's worst industrial and human disaster.
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