SIIRT, Turkey
Rescuers recovered two more bodies of miners on Sunday who were killed in the Madenkoy copper mine by a landslide in Turkey’s southern province of Siirt, a security source said.
The bodies were recovered 10 days after the mine in Sirvan district collapsed on Nov. 17, the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on talking to the media, said.
So far, 12 bodies have been found at the mine.
Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Authority, National Medical Rescue Organization, Red Crescent and gendarmerie have been involved in the rescue attempt.
Four other miners remain trapped underground and search-and-rescue teams are working to locate the missing men.
Heavy rainfall is believed to have triggered the landslide.
The mine’s operating manager was remanded in custody two days later. He was accused of negligence related to safety regulations.
Madenkoy mine is run by Park Elektrik, a member of the Ciner Group which has operated the facility since 2006.
Earlier this week, an incident took place at a privately-owned mine in the Kilimli district of Zonguldak province, a region on Turkey’s Black Sea coast.
The body of a 34-year-old mine worker was recovered Tuesday, 10 hours after the mine collapsed in northern Turkey.
Other serious accidents have beset Turkey’s mining industry in the past.
In May 2014, 301 coal miners were killed in the Soma mine in western Turkey -- the country’s worst mining disaster.
This October, 18 miners died in a flood at a coal mine in Ermenek in central Turkey.
*Reporting by Ozgur Ayaydin, Hasan Namli and Aziz Aslan; Writing by Hatice Kesgin,Sibel Ugurlu
