Turkish village mourns miners killed in blast

Turkish village mourns miners killed in blast

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On the steps of his home overlooking the Black Sea, the father of a dead miner sits and accepts condolences from relatives and neighbors. His devastated Turkish village lost three of its young men in the mine disaster this Friday.

Three of 41 miners killed in a coal mine explosion in the city of Amasra on Friday were from Ahatlar, a village on the outskirts of the city where memorial services were held on Sunday.

“My son is gone. I’m breaking down, it’s ruining me,” said grieving Kemal Yildirim, father of Saban, who was in his early 20s when he died.

“Friends brought me the sad news. We rushed to the pit on Friday. He was one of the last remaining to be pulled out at 7 a.m. the next day,” he said.

The young miner’s pregnant wife is expecting twins. In 2019, after graduating from university, he was employed at the mine of the state-owned Turkish Hard Coal Enterprises.

A relative hung flags in front of the house. Shoes piled on the doormat and women covered their heads with scarves packed into a room while men waited outside under a blue tarp, sheltered from the rain.

Hundreds of people from neighboring villages also gathered in front of the house as an imam led the funeral service. Saban’s wife hugged the coffin, which was covered with a Turkish flag.

“Take me, not him,” said the grieving father, so moved he could hardly breathe.

Officials said 28 miners were wounded and 58 survived after the blast, which preliminary findings say was caused by firedamp – a term referring to a build-up of methane gas.

-‘gas smell’-

Saban told his wife “that the mine has smelled of gas for 10 days,” his father said. “He wanted to take annual leave.”

“His dream was to raise his children. I’m devastated,” he said.

The sister of another miner killed in the blast said he also smelled gas.

Cameras caught their brief exchange with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday.

Erdogan attended funerals in nearby villages after arriving at the mine along with ministers and rescuers.

In the village of Makaraci, which has lost four men, a tearful sister told Erdogan: “President, my brother knew, he said there was a gas leak 10, 15 days ago. He said ‘they’re going to blow us up soon’. how come Negligence? He said ‘they’re going to blow us up here’… He knew it”.

After a moment of silence, Erdogan was heard replying: “I’m sorry for your loss, may Allah grant patience.”

– ‘Mine Martyr’ –

The government has dubbed the dead “mine martyrs.”

Mevlut Ozgun, a relative of the Yildirim family, said the three from Ahatlar were “all young sons”.

“They’ve only been miners for three or four years,” he told AFP in front of the house.

“It’s dangerous, causes disease in the future, but what could they have done? That’s how they made their living.”

Erdogan sparked controversy on Saturday when he linked the killings to a fate.

“We are people who believe in the plan of fate,” he told reporters, surrounded by emergency workers. Such accidents “there will always be, we have to know that too.”

His remarks sparked anger from his opponents and sparked protests in Istanbul, with some demonstrators saying, “It wasn’t an accident, it was a massacre”.

Opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu, who also attended funerals in Amasra, said the state has an obligation to ensure the safety of its people.

“What century are we living in? Why are mine accidents happening only in Turkey?” he said.

Emin Koramaz, chairman of the Union of Turkish Chambers of Engineers and Architects, said on Twitter: “If you send miners hundreds of meters underground without taking the necessary precautions, without inspection and without creating safe conditions, you cannot do that as designate an accident.”

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