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© DHAA team comprising 70 search and rescue personnel is carrying out rescue efforts in the mine where 18 miners were trapped after the flood.
Nineteen workers stuck and 25 saved after water builds up and courses into areas occupied by staff

Nineteen miners have become trapped in a coal mine in southern Turkey which collapsed following a flood, local media reported.

Rescue teams and medics were sent to the mine in the town of Ermenek, in Karaman province - about 70 miles (110km) north of Turkey's Mediterranean coastline.

Media reports said the collapse on Tuesday occurred after water that had built up inside the mine coursed into areas where the workers had been located.

"The water accumulated underground [and] has flooded into the gallery. According to initial reports, 25 workers have been saved while 19 workers remain trapped," Karaman governor Murat Koca was quoted as saying by Turkey's Dogan news agency.

The flood reportedly happened shortly after midday about 990ft (300 metres) below ground.

Energy minister Taner Yildiz and transport minister Lütfi Elvan were heading for the mine, local media reported.

Turkey has one of the world's worst industrial accident records. Its worst ever mining disaster took place less than six months ago in the western town of Soma, where 301 workers were killed.

Source: Reuters