Turkey recovers 10 bodies of trapped miners

Flooding accident traps 18 miners in Ermenek coal mine

ISTANBUL:
Turkish rescue workers have recovered 10 bodies of miners trapped by a flooding accident last month, with search efforts continuing for eight still missing, reports said on Wednesday.

A total of 18 miners were trapped in the disaster in the Ermenek coal mine in the Karaman region of southern Turkey which raised new fears about the country's dire mine safety record.

None of the trapped men were rescued alive and rescuers found the first two bodies on November 6.


Eight more corpses were recovered over the past two days and efforts are continuing to find the remaining 10, the official Anatolia News Agency reported.

The eight miners recovered over the last two days have already been identified by DNA testing, it added.

The authorities have already arrested eight people in connection with the disaster which is believed to have been caused by water that had built up in a disused neighbouring mine.

The government has sought to show it is on top of the rescue operation following sharp criticism of its actions in the Soma disaster in May when 301 workers were killed in the country's worst mining accident.
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