ISTANBUL, Oct. 1 (Xinhua) -- Two miners were killed, two others injured, and three remained trapped underground after a cave-in at a private mine in western Türkiye on Thursday, Justice Minister Akin Gurlek announced.
The incident occurred at around 1:15 p.m. local time (1015 GMT) at a privately run mine in the Soma district of Manisa province, trapping seven workers, Gurlek said in a statement on the social media platform X.
Four were pulled from the rubble by search and rescue teams. Two of them died, and the other two were hospitalized for treatment, he added.
"Search and rescue efforts are continuing uninterrupted to reach our three other workers who are under the debris," Gurlek said, adding that three public prosecutors had been assigned to investigate.
A crisis coordination center was established to monitor and direct rescue operations, according to the Manisa governor's office.
Interior Minister Mustafa Ciftci said teams from the Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD), gendarmerie, emergency medical crews, and firefighters were deployed to the area. Specialized AFAD units from neighboring Izmir province were dispatched with underground and laser imaging equipment to help locate the trapped miners.
