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Three detained, mine shut down after deadly explosion
A manager from the mine's managing company and two employees were reportedly detained upon the orders of the public prosecutor's office investigating the incident. The detentions came after Energy Minister Taner Yıldız announced that the mine would be closed. “We have decided to stop mining and production here completely for six months,” the minister told the Anatolia news agency on Sunday.
A team of 14 investigators was sent into the mine after all the bodies had been removed on Sunday morning. “A decision was made as a result of the investigations carried out in the mine. Independent of the investigations conducted by the public prosecutor and that of the Social Security Authority [SSK] officials, we launched a study involving staff from various institutions.
These institutions include the Turkish Mining Exploration Institute [MTA], the Turkish Hard Coal Enterprises [TTK] and the General Directorate of Mining Affairs, and staff from the mining areas of Soma, Tunçbilek and Dursunbey, which are all affiliated with the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources, and made the decision to close the mine.
Yıldız also stated that they will notify the Bursa authorities about the decision, adding that private companies will work in order to update the safety measures in the mine. “If the private sector does not remedy what is lacking, it means there will be no mining activity,” he said.
TL 5,000 emergency aid for victims’ families
Yıldız stated on Sunday that Labor and Social Security Minister Ömer Dinçer said TL 5,000 will be given to the families of the victims from the Prime Ministry’s emergency fund. Yıldız was in Mustafakemalpaşa in Bursa, where he attended a funeral for worker Yusuf Karaca along with Justice and Development Party (AK Party) Bursa deputy Ali Koyuncu.
The minister further stressed that the emergency aid to be granted to the victims’ families was not a retirement pension or compensation. “The emergency aid fund is to meet basic needs. Today [on Sunday], we visited a family. They said they could not pay their rent. This money is given to alleviate such circumstances. It is immediate emergency support given to meet the families’ financial needs and bring a small amount of relief.”
Meanwhile, the bodies of seven of the 19 workers, which could not be retrieved from the mine earlier, were removed at about midnight on Sunday.
In a press conference held at the Bursa branch of the Republican People’s Party (CHP), CHP Deputy Chairman Onur Öymen said they will issue a parliamentary resolution in order to conduct research into the incident “because we understand that the measures the government takes regarding safety at work are not enough.”
Öymen explained that they had contacted experts in the mining field to gather information. He cited Germany as an example, saying that because of the safety precautions taken in German mines, no major mining accident has occurred in the country since 1992. He noted that while some public mines have pre-warning systems, some private mines, including the one in Bursa, do not.
He added that 2,687 workers have died in Turkish mines since 1955 while 713 people have died in mines in the US since 1950, even though the US has more mines than Turkey.
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