A mine worker was killed and six others were injured after a coal mine in Türkiye's Black Sea province of Zonguldak partially collapsed on Wednesday, according to Health Minister Fahrettin Koca.
The incident took place in the Armutcuk coal mine owned by the state-run Turkish Hard Coal Institution (TTK), in the Ereğli district of Zonguldak province, Governor Osman Hacıbektaşoğlu told reporters.
"Currently, a search and rescue team of 250 people are intervening. One miner was rescued with serious injuries, our teams are in contact with the other three miners. They are carefully trying to remove them," he said
Hacıbektaşoğlu said that the collapse occurred while 280 miners were on the shift but it affected the area where four of them were working.
"There is no explosion, just a collapse. For now, there is not a situation that would put the entire quarry and business at risk."
It occurred 450 meters (1,476.38 feet) below the surface, he said without giving a reason. Injured miners were hospitalized, he added.
Rescue operations swiftly started as police, the Turkish National Medical Rescue Team (UMKE), the Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) and TTK rescue teams were dispatched to the scene.
Mining disasters were not uncommon in Türkiye both in legal and illegal mines due to the lack of labor safety in the past.
However, the number dropped considerably after the government introduced tougher measures following the country's biggest mining disaster that killed 301 miners in the western Turkish town of Soma in 2014.
