Turkish miners down tools over disaster, eight suspects held


Ramazan Dogru (L), general manager of Soma Mining, arrives at a courthouse in Soma, a district in Turkey's western province of Manisa, May 19, 2014. REUTERS/Osman Orsal

SOMA Turkey (Reuters) - The main labour union in a Turkish town hit by the nation's worst mining disaster called on thousands of workers to down tools on Tuesday at mines run by the same operator until the sites have been properly inspected.

Three hundred and one miners died last week after a fire in a mine in Soma, a small town 480 km (300 miles) southwest of Istanbul, fuelling anger in a nation which has long had one of the world's worst workplace safety records.

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