Theology professor says Soma mining accident 'a better way to die'

Theology professor says Soma mining accident 'a better way to die'

MANİSA – Doğan News Agency

DHA Photo

A theology professor has said the deaths of miners who died in Turkey’s worst ever industrial accident last year, while trying to make an honest living, died in a “better” way than those who die while committing crimes.

Professor Ahmet Güç, the dean of faculty of theology in Celal Bayar University in Manisa, described the deaths of the Soma victims as the “will of God,” adding that they died in the cause of performing honest work. 

“Those people were doing honest work. So, it is a pleasing situation for them. They might have died in a clash while trafficking drugs or during a mafia revenge murder,” Güç said.

“We also witness more painful incidents. There are lots of people who lose their lives in car crashes, or who burn to death or drown,” he said, adding that the Soma victims had become “martyrs” as they died trying to earn an honest wage.

Güç also said the families of the victims should “try to get over the pain as soon as possible,” adding that “life is a test.”

On May 13, 2014, an accident at a mine in the Soma district of the Aegean province of Manisa led to the deaths of 301 workers, in the worst industrial accident in Turkey’s history.