occupations bear these work accident risks. Of course, we are deeply sorry for this huge tragedy. In March, this mine was inspected in regards to health and security and was confirmed to have been successful in regards to workers’ health and workplace safety.” said the Prime Minister.
After PM Erdoğan’s press conference, the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) objected PM’s statements about the Soma motion submitted by CHP, declared that his statements were not reflect the reali- ty about the case. CHP officials shared the motion with the public. As seen on the shared document,the mo- tion proposed to the parliament on June 29, 2014 was about specifically the mine accidents occurred in the mines owned by a private company in Darkale village of Soma district. CHP demanded an investigation into all the mine accidents in Soma to reveal the reasons and those responsible for the deaths in those accidents, to find permanent solutions to prevent these cases repeat, and to measure the suf- ficiency of the law enforcement and auditing of these institutions.
Soma Kömür İşletmeleri also made a statement about the latest news from the mine: “ Started from the time the fire broke out, our teams have been working on clearing the mine from the carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide gases alongside the rescue operations. We are in deep sorrow for the loss of our 238 workers. Owing to the emergency rescue operations, nearly 450 workers have been rescued. The searches and investigations as to the cause of the fire are in progress. We will share the reli- able information with public as soon as we get the results. We don not know the exact cause of the fire yet.”
Energy Minister Taner Yıldız in his state- ment at the evening hours announced that the death toll rose to 274.
Meanwhile, the Chairman of Soma Holding Alp Gürkan made his first statement, denying the accusations of using poor quality products in the power unit.
MAY 15, 2014
8:30 am (GMT+2) Energy Minister Tan- er Yıldız spoke to the press reporting that no miners were found alive for
the last 12 hours and the death toll rose to 282.
President Abdullah Gül visited the city and join the researches in the accident area. In his statement to the press, Gül said that the mine fire was a sorrow for the whole Turkish nation. The President added that all state organizations and every means available were mobilized for the rescue operations, and an inves- tigation had begun which would shed light on what regulations were needed. Sending his condolences for the de- ceaseds’ families and Turkish nation, Gül noted: “We as whole nation should show a huge solidarity to bind up the bounds.” Following President Abdullah Gül’s speech, Energy Minister Yıldız informed the public the updates about the res- cue operations in the mine accident. Yıldız said that the number of the loss remained the same as 282, and the operations to control the fire were still continuing in the mine. Yıldız: “There is a significant decrease in the amount of carbon monoxide gas in the mine. With the decrease in carbon monoxide, we can speed up the rescue operations inside in the following hours.” In his
speech, Yıldız noted that an administra- tive and judicial investigation had been launched and the administrative part was being carried out by both the Minis- try of Labour and Social Security and the Ministry of Energy and Natural Sources.
MAY 16, 2014
In his speech in the early hours, Taner Yıldız stated that the death toll rose to 284, and there were still maximum 18 miners trapped inside. Yıldız added that based on families’ testimonies the maximum number of the miners lost their lives would be 302. Soma holding CEO Alp Gürkan, General Manager of Soma Kömür İşletmeleri A.Ş. Ramazan Doğru and the operating manager of Eynez Kömür İşletmesi Akın Çelik made a press conference regard- ing the incident.
In the press conference, it was informed that there were 787 workers inside the mine when the accident occurred; 363 miners, 122 of which were transferred to the nearby hospitals, were rescued alive, 284 workers had lost their lives and 18 workers remained trapped in- side the mine, still being searched. Making his statement about the ac- cident, Soma Holding CEO Alp Gürkan said that: “I have spent all my income from mining business to improve work- ing conditions in my working fields. I
was informed about the accident at about 3 pm on Tuesday. I couldn’t be- lieve my ears. I couldn’t figure out how this could have happened. I just thought about the impossibility of an explosion in a power distribution unit. I feel deep sorrow. People who know me would understand how sensitive I am about these issues. The workers in this mine are mostly the children of the miners who I worked with in my former mines. As a miner of 49 years experience, I can not figure out this accident can happen.” Following Alp Gürkan’s speech, General Manager of Soma Kömür İşletmeleri A.Ş. Ramazan Doğru said: “First of all, I ex- press my condolences to every member of our nation. We faced a painful disaster in our coal mine at 3.30 pm on May,13. I have been working in this basin for 25 years. I’m a mining engineer. I know all the people we lost personally. Before the accident, the number of workers here in our mine was 2.941. We have totally 6.000 workers together with our other entities in the region. When the investi- gations end, the cause of the accident will be enlightened by the experts.” Continued his speech giving details about the accidents, Doğru had also difficult times answering the pressing questions of journalists. Ramazan Doğru said that the accident broke out in the drift called as the 4th belt on the -140
level of the mine and it was caused by an undetermined spark. “There was a strong entry of clean air there that led the coal vein burn and the coals scat- tered around started the fire in the mine.” The Operating Manager of Eynez İşletmesi Akın Çelik spoke to the press about the facility and the incident:“I have been a mining engineer for 20 years and also been working as safety specialist for 15 years. In coal mining, a coal fire can easily be extinguished. In case of a fire, the area is filled with ash and water com- pletely. The presence of coal gas inside the mine is out of question. These gases are controlled constantly by stable and mobile sensors. We haven’t found out yet how the fire started. We cannot an- swer this question now. We have never seen anything like this.” While the re- porters bombing Doğru and Çelik with their questions, the company managers noted that there was an existing rescue chamber remained from Turkish Coal Enterprises (TKİ) at the mine’s upper lev- els which had been disassembled as pro- duction there had stopped, and work on a rescue chamber near the working spot at the lower section was on the way. Doğru and Çelik added that there were emergency rescue clearings in the mine with a direct link to ventilation and clean air. Thanks to these, many workers were able to escape from the mine when the fire broke out.
The officials from Soma Holding stressed that there were no subcon- tracted, uninsured and illegitimate workers in the company and all the workers were the employees of Soma Kömür İşletmeleri A.Ş.
The press conference was held in a tense atmosphere in which the intense conversations between the press mem- bers and the company officials mini- mised the efficiency of the event.
MAY 17, 2014
In his last statement, Energy Minister Taner Yıldız informed that the number of the workers lost their lives rose to 299. According to Yıldız’s statement, a new fire broke out in another sec- tion of the mine, about 250 metre (820 feet) away from where the miners were trapped and that would create further difficulties for rescue teams.
In the evening hours,Taner Yıldız re- ported an update that two or three miners were still thought to be un- derground and 301 miners lost their lives while 485 miners either escaped or been rescued since Tuesday’s mine blast and fire in Soma. The search and rescue operations ongoing for 5 days were completed, reaching all the min- ers in the drifts underground.
MAY 18, 2014
25 people held on suspicion of neg- ligence as part of the investigation into the mine disaster in Soma. Soma Holding CEO Can Gürkan,and Rama- zan Doğru, the general manager of Soma Kömür İşletmeleri AŞ, and opera- tions manager of Eynez İşletmesi, Akın Çelik, were among those being held on suspicion of “neglect and causing multiple deaths”. 6 of the 25 suspects were brought to the court and 3 were arrested.
MAY 19, 2014
8 people were arrested and 9 were released on probation within the investigations in the mine disaster which took the lives of more than 300 miners. Among those arrested on Sunday were Soma Holding CEO Alp Gürkan’s son Can Gürkan, the company’s general manager Rama- zan Doğru and the mine’s operations manager Akın Çelik, mining engi- neers Yalçın Erdoğan and Ertan Er- soy, shift supervisors Yasin Kurnaz
and Hilmi Kazık, and the mine tech- nician Mehmet Ali Günay.