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Selin Girit BBC Turkish Service
Turkey coal mine explosion: Death toll rises
14 May 2014 Last updated at 07:14 GMT
The BBC's Alpa Patel: "Hundreds off amilies desperately waited f ornews... but rescuers pulled outbody af ter body"
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An explosion at a coal mine inwestern Turkey has lef t at least201 workers dead and scoresinjured, of f icials say.
Energy Minister Taner Yildiz said787 people had been inside themine at Soma in Manisa province when an electrical f ault triggered the blast.
Rescuers worked through the night, but Mr Yildiz said hopes were f ading of f inding any more survivors.
Worried relatives have gathered near the privately owned mine, about 450km (280 miles) west of the capitalAnkara.
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Analysis
Turkey has been on edge, waiting f or some good news about the trapped miners. But as the hours havepassed the picture now looks gloomier. TV f ootage shows relatives gathered anxiously at the statehospital where the injured are taken. Ambulances come and go.
At the mine itself , rescue operations continue. As a miner emerges alive, cheers erupt f ollowed by tears.
Social media is buzzing with reaction. Some complain about the lack of mine security, an issue that Turkeydoes not have a good record on.
Four years ago in Zonguldak, 30 miners died in an explosion. One of the worst mining accidents took placein the same town when more than 250 miners lost their lives in 1992.
Mr Yildiz conf irmed the latest death toll on Turkish TV and said some 80 people had been injured.
He said that of the workers inside the mine at the time of the accident, only about 360 of them - includingthose killed - had been accounted f or.
Mr Yildiz said that carbon monoxide poisoning had claimed many lives. Oxygen was being pumped into themine to help those still trapped.
He later said hopes were f ading that anyone else would be f ound alive.
The electrical f ault triggered a power cut, making the mine cages unusable. Those trapped are reported tobe 2km (1.2 miles) below the surf ace and 4km f rom the mine entrance.
The blast happened at about 12:30 GMT on Tuesday. Init ial reports said 17 people had died but the deathtoll leapt later in the day.
TV f ootage showed rescuers helping workers f rom the mine, their f aces and hard-hats covered in soot anddust. Some were carried on stretchers to waiting ambulances.
Police were keeping the crowds back to allow emergency services in and out of the area.
The re we re che e rs fro m the cro wd as tho se re scue d we re b ro ug ht to the surface
Re lative s o f the missing mine rs face an ag o nis ing wait fo r ne ws
Sena Isbiler, a mother of one of the miners, stood on top of piles of wood, anxiously craning her neck to
see those being led out of the mine.
"I have been waiting f or my son since early af ternoon," she told AFP news agency. "I haven't heard anythingabout him yet."
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has postponed a trip to Albania over the accident and is to visit Somainstead, his of f ice said.
The mine's owners, Soma Komur Isletmeleri, said an investigation was under way but the accident occurreddespite the "highest saf ety measures and constant controls".
"Our main priority is to get our workers out so that they may be reunited with their loved ones," the ownerssaid in a statement.
Lignite coal mining is a major industry in the Soma area, helping to supply a nearby lignite-f ired thermalpower plant.
Analysts say the saf ety record of Turkey's coal mines lags behind that of most industrial nations.
The country's worst mining disaster was in 1992, when 270 miners were killed near Zonguldak, on the BlackSea.
Are you in Manisa? How have you been affected by the explosion? You can email yourexperiences to [email protected] .uk, using the subject line 'Turkey'.
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