Four miners were injured, two seriously, after an explosion at a mine in Zonguldak province (northwest), Turkish media reported on Sunday, three weeks after a firedamp blast killed 42 miners 50 kilometers away.
According to the Turkish news agency DHA, this new explosion occurred overnight from Saturday to Sunday in a private mine in the Kilimli district for reasons that are still unknown.
The two seriously injured, burned except for their bodies, were transported to a hospital in Ankara, the Turkish capital, DHA reported.
Members of the Turkish opposition immediately called for emergency measures, recalling that 42 miners died after an explosion that occurred on October 14 at a coal mine in Amasra, in neighboring Bartin province.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had assured that those responsible would not be “spared”, but described these accidents as “fate”.
The Turkish authorities announced in late October that they had arrested 25 people, including the manager of the state-owned Amasra mine.