© Anadolu Agency/Getty ImagesAgence France-Presse and Reuters in IstanbulA co-worker of the coal miners trapped under the rubble waits at the explosion site.
Interior minister, Süleyman Soylu, said Saturday that 40 miners were confirmed dead. Eleven were injured and hospitalised, while 58 others managed to get out of the mine on their own or were rescued unharmed. The status of one remaining miner was unclear.
He also confirmed early reports that almost 50 miners were still trapped in two separate areas between 300 and 350 metres below ground.
Comment: Although coalmine and gas-related explosions aren't exactly rare occurrences, there is reason to suspect that their frequency is increasing, and with a variety of causes to blame, including human error, earth changes, even sabotage, but their occurrence is even more notable at a time when the world is suffering an energy crisis: 10 dead in huge gas station explosion in Donegal, Ireland