The fire that broke out following an explosion at a coal mine in the Amasra district of northern Türkiye's Bartın on Friday has been brought under control, Energy and Natural Resources Minister Fatih Dönmez confirmed Monday.
The accident killed 41 miners while at least 110 miners were working in the shaft when the explosion occurred Friday evening.
Minister Dönmez said in a statement at the Mobile Coordination Center established in the area that mining activities at the quarry have also been halted.
He added that the scene of the accident was now being treated as a "crime scene" due to the investigation launched by the Chief Public Prosecutor's Office.
"In the first days I talked about a fire, it was largely under control. Two dam gates were built to cut off its contact with the air. The fire is about to be extinguished and its severity is decreasing. Our technical teams are already monitoring the process while mining activities were completely stopped at the scene."
"Currently, only our technical police chiefs are working. All necessary assistance will be provided to our prosecutors and investigators, without exception, in order to shed light on all aspects of the incident in the ongoing judicial and administrative investigations," he added.
Dönmez said the search and rescue operation was concluded within 18 hours.
"We lost 41 of our brothers. As for the wounded, we are following the condition of one patient at Bartın State Hospital and six who were transferred to Istanbul."
"In the evaluations at the time of the incident, we said the cause of the incident was a firedamp explosion. We maintain the preliminary evaluation we made with our experts," he added.
The minister also thanked all the search and rescue teams that arrived at the scene from different provinces, as well as public institutions and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) that contributed to the rescue efforts.
He pointed out that all information and evaluations that should be made public will be provided by the Turkish Coal Institution (TKK) website and the ministry. Dönmez will also brief the Parliament on the accident on Tuesday.
The energy minister also confirmed that the government was undertaking an elaborate support program for the families of the victims, as announced by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan during his visit to the site on Saturday.
"In the first place, our governorship started helping the families of the victims. As of today, the TKK will start its first payments. Now, our martyr families are entrusted to us. All their needs will be met by our state and our relevant institution."
"I would like to thank our local people and our nation in particular. They supported us with their prayers in this difficult time. They did not leave us alone, we thank them," he said.
"Our President has followed the event from the first moment of the event and has not spared his support. I would like to thank them once again from here."
President Erdoğan said that each family will receive TL 1.35 million will be given to the families of the miners who lost their lives.
In the meanwhile, Education Minister Mahmut Özer announced Monday that the government will cover all education expenses for the children of the 41 miners who died in the accident.
"The Ministry of National Education, we have undertaken the education of all the children of our 41 martyrs as of today. We will cover all the education expenses of those children. We will provide scholarships, we will cover all school and stationery expenses and we will not leave them alone." he said.
