ANKARA, Sept 8 (AFP) - Eight bodies were pulled from an underground tunnel in a copper mine in northern Turkey where a massive fire broke out Wednesday, local officials said, and as many 14 could still be trapped.
Rescuers have so far brought eight bodies to the surface, the regional governor, Mustafa Kara, told the Anatolia news agency.
Turkish media previously reported four dead in the blaze, which broke out in a mine tunnel 150 meters (490 feet) underground near Kure, some 350 kilometers (215 miles) northeast of Ankara.
Another six workers, all wounded, have been rescued from the site, where emergency operations were continuing, the Anatolia news agency said.
Earlier officials had said the 22 workers still trapped in the tunnel were all alive and well.
Two workers who had earlier managed to flee the flames described the blaze as huge and said it was apparently sparked during welding work.
Alper Tanrisever, deputy governor of the town in the northern Turkish highlands, earlier told Anatolia news agency that about 30 workers were in the tunnel when the fire broke out.
The site belongs to Turkey`s mining giant, Etibank.
STFA, one of the country`s top building companies, was sub-contracted by Etibank to build the tunnel, which the spokesman described as "large enough for trucks to drive through," at the site where construction began three years ago.