Turkey mining disaster: death toll rises to 282

The death toll in the coal mine explosion and fire in western Turkey — the worst mine disaster to have occurred in the country — has increased to 282 on Wednesday the 14^th May, 2014.

Anti-government protests broke out in the mining town of Soma, as well as Istanbul and the capital, Ankara, with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan being heckled as he tried to show concern.

The display of anger could have significant repercussions for the Turkish leader, who is widely expected to run for president in the August election, although he is yet to announce his candidacy.

Tensions were high as hundreds of relatives and miners jostled outside the mine’s entrance on Wednesday, waiting for news amidst a heavy police presence.

Energy Minister Taner Yildiz had earlier said that 787 people were inside the coal mine at the time of Tuesday’s explosion, and 363 of the miners had been rescued.

The death toll topped a 1992 gas explosion that killed 263 workers near Turkey’s Black Sea port of Zonguldak. It also left 150 miners still unaccounted for.

Workers were trying late on Wednesday to reach the bodies of up to 22 people trapped in one zone. Some of the workers were 1,400 feet deep inside the mine.

One rescue worker who declined to be named said he led a ten-man team about half a mile down into the mine’s tunnels, where they recovered three bodies before being forced to flee because of smoke from burning coal. Rescue operations were halted for several hours on Thursday morning because high gas concentrations in the mine needed to be cleared.

Mr. Erdogan declared three days of national mourning and postponed a trip to Albania to visit the mine. He warned that some radical groups would try to use the disaster to discredit his government.

In downtown Soma, protesters, most in their teens and 20s, faced off against riot police in front of the ruling NKP party headquarters, smashing its windows with rocks.

Mr. Erdogan has been dogged by corruption allegations and was forced to oust four government ministers in December after they were implicated in a police-bribery probe. The scandal deepened after audio recordings were posted on the Internet suggesting corruption by the Prime Minister and his family members.