Three people were killed and five others injured in a firedamp explosion at a private coal mine in the Kilimli district of Zonguldak, northern Türkiye, on Friday.
The explosion occurred at a coal mine in the Dereiçi area of Gelik, prompting the dispatch of emergency response teams to the scene.
Following a report of the incident, teams from the Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD), medical personnel and firefighters were sent to the mine.
Justice Minister Akın Gürlek said an urgent investigation had been launched into the explosion by the Zonguldak Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office. One deputy chief public prosecutor and two public prosecutors were assigned to the investigation.
Zonguldak Governor Osman Hacıbektaşoğlu visited the injured receiving treatment at the hospital and received information from officials.
Speaking to journalists, Hacıbektaşoğlu said the firedamp explosion occurred at the private coal mine in Gelik at around 10 a.m. He said eight people were reported to have been inside the mine at the time of the explosion.
“Unfortunately, two of these seven people were taken to the hospital after losing their lives. The other five were injured,” he said.
After hours of search-and-rescue operations, teams found the body of the missing miner, raising the death toll to three.
Hacıbektaşoğlu said two of the injured were conscious, while two others had been intubated due to burns.
“One person has been transferred to Ankara, and preparations are underway to transfer another person there. One miner remains in the mine. He has been reached, and efforts are underway to bring him out. We have not yet definitively confirmed his vital status,” he said.
Authorities have not yet released further details about the cause of the explosion. The investigation and search-and-rescue operations are ongoing.
