Miner's body discovered after 112 days in Turkey mining disaster

More than three months after the mining disaster in the İliç district of eastern Erzincan province, search and rescue teams discovered the fifth worker’s body buried under the mass mixed with cyanide. Four workers have not been reached yet.

Tuesday June 04 2024 06:23 pm

Duvar English

The rescue teams on June 4 found the body of one more worker in the gold mine operated by Anagold company in Erzincan province’s İliç district, where a mining disaster occurred after a landslide.

Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Alparslan Bayraktar said in a statement on his social media account that they have been continuing their work to reach the lifeless bodies of the other four workers.

Nine workers on Feb. 13 were trapped under tonnes of chemical-contaminated soil that slid in the mine. Experts later found that the soil heap was overloaded beyond regulation volumes.

The main opposition Republican People’s Party later revealed that the former Environment Minister and the ruling Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) defeated Istanbul mayoral candidate Murat Kurum had persoınally signed the capacity increase approval for the gold mine.

Parliamentary Commission meets to investigate mine accident

The Parliamentary Commission to Investigate the İliç Mine Accident on June 4 also convened for the eighth time with the participation of the company representatives.

CHP lawmaker Deniz Yavuzyılmaz reminded that 112 days have passed since the disaster and said, "During this period, we have not received answers to any of the 178 questions you asked the ministers about the disaster."

Underlining that the projects implemented by the company at the mine site were not communicated to the members of the commission, Yavuzyılmaz said, ‘As of now, the deputy members of the research commission do not have the information on which project the company has implemented at the site.’

In their speech before the presentation, the representative of Anagold listed “making the mine site operable again” among their priorities.

The representative stated that the site has been constantly checked for any leakage and added, “There has been no negative result in terms of the environment.”