Soma mine disaster

Soma mine disaster
Rescue effort after the Soma mine disaster in Manisa, Turkey
Date13 May 2014 (2014-05-13)
LocationEynez coal mine, Soma, Manisa, Turkey
Coordinates39°4′38″N 27°31′31″E / 39.07722°N 27.52528°E / 39.07722; 27.52528
CauseFire
Outcome301 dead, 486 survivors, 18 arrested.
Deaths301[1]
Non-fatal injuries80+[2]

On 13 May 2014, blasting[3] at Eynez coal mine in Soma, Manisa, Turkey, caused an underground mine fire, which burned until 15 May.[4][5] In total, 301 people were killed, making it the worst mine disaster in Turkey's history. The mine, operated by coal producer Soma Kömür İşletmeleri A.Ş., suffered a fire, the causes of which were later found to be complex.[6][7][3] The fire occurred at the mine's shift change, when 787 workers were underground. At the time, the disaster was thought to be mainly an explosion rather than fire.[3] After the last bodies were pulled from the mine on 17 May 2014, four days after the fire, the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Taner Yıldız confirmed the number of dead was 301.[8] Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD) announced the names of the 301 workers who died in the mine disaster[9] and the 486 miners who survived.[10][11]

Miners protested against dangerous mining conditions in late 2013 and the demand by the main opposition party, the Republican People's Party, to investigate the mine's safety was rejected in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey with votes from the ruling Justice and Development Party only weeks before the disaster.[12][13]

An official expert report was published in 2016 which found several causes of the disaster, including inadequate official inspections.[14]

  1. ^ "'Son 2 işçinin yeri de tespit edildi'". ntvmsnbc. 17 May 2014. Retrieved 17 May 2014.
  2. ^ "Turkey coal mine disaster: Desperate search at Soma pit". BBC News. Retrieved 14 May 2014.
  3. ^ a b c Düzgün, H. Sebnem; Leveson, Nancy (1 December 2018). "Analysis of soma mine disaster using causal analysis based on systems theory (CAST)". Safety Science. 110: 37–57. doi:10.1016/j.ssci.2018.07.028. hdl:1721.1/126555. ISSN 0925-7535.
  4. ^ "Turkish mine disaster: Unions call protest strike". BBC News. Retrieved 15 May 2014.
  5. ^ Constanze Letsch. "Turkey: miners and mourners scorn government that 'laughs at our pain'". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 May 2015.
  6. ^ "Turkey mine disaster: firm claims 'unprecedented' fire". TurkishPress.com. 15 May 2014. Retrieved 15 May 2014.
  7. ^ "Four people arrested over Turkey mine disaster". TurkishPress.com. 18 May 2014. Retrieved 18 May 2014.
  8. ^ "Turkish mine disaster town under lockdown as death toll rises to 301". Reuters. Retrieved 18 May 2014.
  9. ^ "301 İşçimizin Cenazesi Ailelerine Teslim Edildi". AFAD. 16 May 2014. Retrieved 19 May 2014.
  10. ^ "Kurtulan madencilerin isimleri açıklandı". ntvmsnbc. 17 May 2014. Retrieved 17 May 2014.
  11. ^ "Elim Kazadan Sağ Kurtulanlar". AFAD. 17 May 2014. Retrieved 17 May 2014.
  12. ^ Cite error: The named reference telegraph 1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  13. ^ Saul, Heather (14 May 2014). "Turkey coal mine explosion: Protests erupt in Soma after PM claims 'explosions like these happen all the time'". The Independent. Retrieved 14 May 2014.
  14. ^ "Soma Bilirkişi Raporu: Sorumlu bakanlıkların kusuru ve ihmali var". BBC News Türkçe (in Turkish). Retrieved 18 October 2022.