Deadly explosion highlights grim working conditions on tunnel construction site in northeast Turkey

Duvar English 

After an explosion last week left one worker dead on the construction site of a tunnel in the Kop Mountains between the northeastern provinces of Bayburt and Erzurum, workers have complained of unsafe and unhealthy conditions on the site, according to a report in the daily Birgün. 

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The gas explosion claimed the life of 21-year-old Oğuzhan Orak, who had just finished his mandatory military service and was only on his second day on the job. Eight injured workers have been discharged from the hospital while two are still receiving treatment. 

“It was a terrible place. In order to save expenses and time, they are forsaking the lives of workers,” said Burak Yılmaz, who worked on the tunnel's construction site for three months last year before quitting due to the poor conditions. 

It was not the first time workers complained about the dire situation, and last year the Construction and Building Workers Union (İYİ-SEN) organized a strike in protest of the workers on the tunnel being denied their rights. 

“We were working 12 hours a day. Water was coming in from every side of the tunnel, and there were frequent landslides. The ventilation was terrible. It wasn't working. In spite of our warnings, we could not get the managers on the site to listen to what we said,” Yılmaz said.