15/05/2014 16:20
Turkish coal mine deaths rise to 282
Rescue teams have recovered eight more victims from a coal mine in western Turkey, raising the death toll in Turkey's worst mining disaster to 282, The Associated Press reported, citing a government minister.
Even as hopes for some 150 other miners trapped underground faded, Energy Minister Taner Yildiz told reporters that rescue efforts were focusing on two areas inside the mine.
Yildiz said the operation was hampered by a fire still blazing inside the mine.
The government has said 787 people were inside the coal mine at the time of Tuesday's explosion and 363 were rescued, including scores who were injured.
The death toll topped a 1992 gas explosion that killed 263 workers near Turkey's Black Sea port of Zonguldak.