Explosion Occurs In Coal Mine In Ermenek

-BODIES OF THREE MINERS PULLED OUT -SEVEN MINERS TRAPPED INSIDE COAL MINE

ERMENEK - A total of ten miners were trapped when a methane gas explosion rocked a coal mine in Ermenek town of central province of Karaman late on Saturday.
Search and rescue teams have rushed to the area and saved Mehmet Goker.
Later, rescuers pulled out the bodies of three miners killed in the explosion, which occurred 350 meters deep in the mine.
Karaman Governor Ismet Metin told the A.A that the three bodies were severely charred from the explosion, therefore, they could not be identified yet.
Metin said that a crisis desk had been formed in Karaman and named the miners who were trapped in the mine as Eyup Goker, Yusuf Sahin, Abdullah Sengul, Ali Basar, Hidayet Gurbuz, Ali Senkal, Mustafa Aygun, Ahmet Bilgin, Sebahattin Ersoy and Hasan Celik.
He added that there was very little hope of finding any of the trapped miners alive since high levels of carbon monoxide were hampering their work.
A 14-member team, trained in mine rescue, arrived in Karaman early Sunday by helicopter.
Families gathered outside the area cordoned off by security forces, waiting for news of their beloved ones.
Meanwhile, two directors of Ozsayan Company operating the coal mine, were detained.
(UK) 23.11.2003