ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — A coal mine collapsed in southeast Turkey on Tuesday, killing at least six miners. Rescuers were trying to reach one other mine worker who was still trapped inside.
The mine located in the province of Sirnak — bordering Iraq and Syria — caved in trapping eight workers, the private Dogan news agency reported. Seven of them were rescued but six of them died while hospitalized.
The cause of the collapse wasn't immediately known.
Turkey's energy ministry said meanwhile, that the mine was unlicensed and operating illegally.
In 2014, 301 miners were killed in a fire inside a coal mine in Soma, western Turkey — the nation's worst mining disaster. The tragedy exposed poor safety standards and superficial government inspections in Turkey's mines.
