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At least 20 miners have been killed and up to 300 are reported trapped after an explosion caused a fire triggering a collapse at a coal mine in the western Turkish province of Manisa.

Local member of parliament Muzaffer Yurttas said 20 workers had been killed at the mine in Soma, citing health officials.

"Twenty workers were killed and 30 were wounded in the accident. They died of choking and burns," Yurttas told local TV station NTV.

Al Jazeera's Serpil Karacan reporting from Istanbul said the mine employed more than 500 people and at least 200 people had finished their shift, leaving 300 still trapped at the site.

Fire officials are trying to pump clean air into the mine shaft for those who remain trapped some two kilometres below the surface and four kilometres from the entrance.

"Four separate rescue teams are currently working in the mine. The fire is creating a problem but oxygen is being pumped into the mine shafts that weren't affected."

Temel Korkmaz, head of the town's fire department, said an initial rescue team was able to enter part of the mine to rescue 30 wounded, who were taken to a nearby hospital.

The accident is being blamed on an electric fault.

Mining accidents are common in Turkey, which is plagued by poor safety conditions.

Turkey's worst mining disaster was a 1992 gas explosion that killed 270 workers near the Black Sea port of Zonguldak.