The mine, owned by SOMA Komur Isletmeleri A.S., underwent regular inspections in the past three years, two of them this March, Turkey's government said. Inspectors reported no violation of health and safety laws.
Mavi Boncuk |
1906- The Courrières mine disaster, Europe's worst mining accident, caused the death of 1,099 miners (including many children) in Northern France on 10 March 1906.
1913: The worst mining disaster in British history was when 439 miners were killed in a gas explosion at the Senghenydd colliery in South Wales. The cause was probably a build up of firedamp (methane) being ignited by electric sparking from equipment such as electric bell signaling gear. The mines manager was fined £24 for breaches of the mines safety code, whilst the owner William Thomas Lewis was fined £10.
1927: 259 men and boys killed in one of the United States’ worst coal mine disasters, at the St. Paul Coal Co. mine, Cherry, Illinois.
1942- China, On April 26, 1942, a gas and coal-dust explosion in the mine killed 1,549, 34% of the miners working that day, making it the worst disaster in the history of coal mining and the second worst recorded industrial accident.
1960: Coalbrook, South Africa, Clydesdale Colliery mine collapse kills 437.
1962 - Disaster at the Luisenthal coal mine in Volklingen, West Germany . On February 7, a methane explosion occurred after the opening of a methane-containing cavern in the Alsbach field. This triggered an even bigger coal dust explosion with devastating effects. 299 workers of the 433 present were killed, making this the greatest mining catastrophe in the history of the Saarland coal mining area.
1992- March 3, 1992, Turkey Hard Coal Enterprises (TTK) firedamp explosion in Kozlu, Zonguldak. Until Soma this was the biggest mining disaster in Turkey which claimed lives of 263 miners in a methane explosion.
2014: Soma, Manisa. The biggest mining disaster in Turkey. (274 as of May 14, 2013 according to Turkey's Natural Disaster and Emergency Coordination Directorate. Those who underwent autopsies died of carbon monoxide poisoning, Energy Minister Taner Yildiz said.)