Turkey mine disaster highlights poor safety record

  • 10 years ago
One by one, the injured are carried out from this mine in western Turkey.

The quiet on Wednesday morning, broken by the occasional wail from a loved one.

The death toll from Tuesday's mine explosion in the town of Soma is well over 200.

Hundreds more may still be trapped inside.

Overnight, families clamored outside a hospital for news.

(SOUNDBITE) (Turkish), MINER, SUAYIP OZCAN SAYING:

"We had been working in a mine over-ground nearby. We saw everything from there. We saw the ambulances and people waiting"

(SOUNDBITE) (Turkish) UNIDENTIFIED MINER'S RELATIVE SAYING:

"I have two relatives in the mine. We have been waiting since this afternoon and we are still here, no one is giving us any information"

Freezer trucks now serve as makeshift morgues, as hospitals overflow with the dead.

Teams of psychiatrists are arriving to help counsel the families.

This could become the nation's worst ever mining disaster.

From the V

Recommended