Mine Disaster Triggers Riots In Turkey

Chickens come home to roost for corrupt mine owners, Erdogan

NEW YORK TIMES
By Kareem Fahim and Sebnem Arsu

05/17/2014

SOMA, Turkey — 

Rescue workers removed the last remaining bodies from a stricken mine here on Saturday afternoon as the death toll in Turkey’s worst mining accident rose to 301 people, according to the prime minister’s office.

Hundreds died in preventable disaster

The final recovery efforts were hampered by a fire that broke out underground Saturday morning, as well as the leakage of methane gas, according to the energy minister, Taner Yildiz. Some of the 17 bodies removed overnight were so badly burned that DNA testing will be required to identify them, he said.

Smoke could be seen rising near an entrance to the mine on Saturday. For the first time since the accident four days ago, there were no relatives of victims seen waiting. 

Some of the families moved to a nearby state hospital, to await the results of the DNA tests.

With so many dead, the tragedy rippled for miles around the coal mine, affecting towns and tiny villages in a region where thousands of men work in the industry. Public anger was focused on the facility’s owners, who were accused of shirking safety measures to make the mine more profitable, and on Turkey’s prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose abrasive response to the accident during a visit here last week infuriated a region in mourning.

During protests of Mr. Erdogan’s visit, an aide to Mr. Erdogan was photographed kicking a demonstrator who was being held on the ground by military police officers. Mr. Erdogan himself responded to the heckling by defiantly taunting protesters.

Prosecutors are investigating the accident, which occurred when a fire tore through the mine.

The mine owners, who have denied any negligence, have speculated that unexplained “warming” in the mine started the fire, without providing further details. They conceded that there were no safe rooms in the mine where workers could take shelter, but asserted that they were not required by Turkish law.

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Posted in: Corporate Criminals,Turkey