Injured miner asks nurse to take his boots off so to ‘not stain stretcher’ in heartbreaking scene

MANİSA

Corpses of at least 238 miners were retrieved from the mine, while many others were rescued after remaining trapped for many hours.

In one of the heartbreaking scenes from the May 14 intense rescue efforts at the Soma mine, a worker was heard asking a nurse if he might pull off his boots, dusted by coal, while being rushed to the ambulance.

“I should pull of my boots so that the stretcher doesn’t get stained,” the worker, visibly exhausted, was heard as saying only a few moments after being pulled out of the mine in the late hours of May 13.

The nurses and other medical personnel responded that he could keep his boots on, while trying to comfort him. A huge crowd composed of family members and fellow co-workers gathered around the exit of the mine and were also expecting to hear a few words from the rescued miner that could prove he was well enough.

Corpses of at least 284 miners were retrieved from the mine, while many others were rescued after remaining trapped for many hours.

The coal mine facility, where 6,500 workers are employed, located in the western province of Manisa, is also the largest in the region.