Mine collapse kills five workers in western Türkiye

MANİSA

Rescue teams recovered the bodies of three more miners early on Oct. 2 following a collapse at a mine in the western province of Manisa, raising the death toll from the accident to five.

The collapse occurred at around 1:15 p.m. on Oct. 1 at the İmbat Mining operation in the Soma district.

Seven workers were initially caught in the collapse, while rescue teams managed to pull four miners from the site in the first stage of the operation.

Two of the workers were pronounced dead, while two others were injured and taken to hospital.

Rescue efforts continued throughout the night to reach the three miners who remained trapped underground.

The bodies of all three workers were recovered in the early hours of Oct. 2, bringing the death toll to five.

The cause of the collapse remains unknown. Three prosecutors have been appointed to oversee an investigation into the incident, while Labor and Social Security Minister Vedat Işıkhan separately assigned a chief labor inspector to investigate the accident.

Family and Social Services Minister Mahinur Özdemir Göktaş said psychosocial support teams were deployed in the area to assist the miners’ families and those affected by the incident.

The accident occurred in the same province as the Soma mine disaster in May 2014, which killed 301 miners and remains the deadliest mining and workplace accident in Türkiye’s history.