Two miners were killed and at least five injured in a firedamp explosion at a privately operated coal mine in the Black Sea province of Zonguldak on Friday morning, Governor Osman Hacıbektaşoğlu said.
The blast happened at around 10:00 local time at a mine in the town of Gelik, in the Kilimli district, according to Turkish media reports. Firedamp (grizu in Turkish) is a methane-air mixture that builds up in coal seams and can ignite with explosive force.
Speaking outside the hospital where the injured were taken, the governor said eight people had been in the mine at the time and seven had been brought out. Two of those had died. He said one miner was still underground and that rescue teams had reached him. Some later reports said the last worker had been brought out, but his condition had not been officially confirmed by midday.
Burned workers to be sent to Ankara
Two of the injured suffered burns and were intubated, Hacıbektaşoğlu said, adding that they had been conscious when he saw them. They were to be transferred to hospitals in Ankara, which has specialist burn units. Reports differed on the total number injured, with some outlets putting it at six. The names of the victims have not been released.
Fire brigades, the disaster agency AFAD, gendarmerie units and rescue teams from the state hard coal company Türkiye Taşkömürü Kurumu (TTK) took part in the operation. The name of the company operating the mine has not been officially announced, and the cause of the ignition will be investigated by prosecutors and labour inspectors.
A long record of mining accidents
Zonguldak is Türkiye’s main hard coal basin, and mining has shaped the city for more than a century. Alongside the state-run TTK pits, dozens of smaller private and licensed sites operate in the area, and safety at these operations has long been criticised by unions and opposition politicians.
The country’s worst industrial disaster took place at Soma in Manisa province in 2014, when 301 miners died. In October 2022, a firedamp explosion at a state-run mine in Amasra, in neighbouring Bartın province, killed 43 workers.
The accident comes amid renewed debate in Türkiye over safety inspections, after recent building collapses such as the one in Istanbul’s Maltepe district, and the pace of urban renewal.
Zonguldak lies well away from the main areas where foreigners live, and there is no wider risk to the public. For newcomers, Türkiye’s single emergency number is 112 for ambulance, fire and police; our moving to Türkiye checklist covers this and other first steps.
Sources
- Zonguldak’ta maden ocağında patlama: 2 işçi öldü, 6 işçi yaralandı (Aydınlık / İHA)
- Zonguldak’ta maden ocağında patlama. Ölü ve yaralılar var (NTV)
- Zonguldak Kilimli’de grizu patlamasında 2 işçi yaşamını yitirdi, 5 işçi yaralandı (Sondakika.com / ANKA)
Photo: Dosseman / CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
