Coal mine blast stirs debate in Turkey

Authorities at a Zonguldak mine in which eight workers were killed Jan. 7 failed to implement the recommendations of a damning official report from 2011 that outlined huge safety breaches, according to Hurriyet Daily News.

“It is a coincidence that a fatal incident has not occurred yet [at the Kozlu coal mine],” read the report which was prepared by the Turkish Audit Courts for Turkish Parliament’s public economic enterprise body in 2011. The eight mine workers were killed due to a gas leak at the mine in the Black Sea province of Zonguldak.

The state-owned Turkish Hard Coal Enterprise’s (TTK) was in efforts to “increase safety” at the mine.
Reports said the miners were overcome by a large amount of methane gas after they opened a coal deposit.

The report further revealed that TTK’s operating sub-contractor was not actually a mining firm but a construction company instead. “The firm failed to take the necessary measures regarding work safety,” according to the report. The report also included many negative former reports about the mining company.

“Energy cables can cause explosions,” one of the previous official reports was quoted as stating in the report.