Pictures: Mine Blast in Turkey Kills More Than 200
Rescue efforts are still under way, but hope for survivors is fading.
A blast at a mine in western Turkey Tuesday afternoon left more than 200 dead and at least 100 more trapped. The blast occurred when a transformer exploded, setting off a fire that was still burning Wednesday as rescue efforts continued.
People wait for news of relatives outside of a hospital in Soma in the western province of Manisa, about 300 miles (483 kilometers) southwest of Istanbul. An underground fire hampered rescue efforts and endangered those still trapped. This was the worst mining disaster in the country since a gas explosion at a coal mine near the Black Sea port of Zonguldak that killed nearly 270 miners in 1992.
Rescue workers, miners, and relatives thronged the area around the Soma mine following
