Tycoon faces charges in mine disaster trial

A court in western Turkey annulled a previous verdict dismissing charges against Alp Gürkan, the embattled head of a company running a coal mine in the town of Soma where 301 workers were killed in a 2014 incident. Gürkan's son Can, chairman of the board at Soma Kömür İşletmeleri company, was already jailed for manslaughter over the company's alleged work safety negligence that led to the deaths of miners inhaling poisonous fumes after a fire broke out in the mine. An earlier verdict had ruled for nonsuit for Gürkan and other high-level executives of the company but it was reversed after a recent expert witness report implicated Gürkan and others in the case.