Rescuers find body of miner in eastern Turkey

By Zekeriya Gunes and Selman Tur

SIIRT, Turkey (AA) – A body of a missing miner was recovered on Tuesday, five days after a mine collapse in eastern Turkey.

Tuesday’s recovery brings to seven the number of bodies found at the Madenkoy copper mine in Sirvan, Siirt province.

Nine other workers remain trapped underground. Heavy rainfall is believed to have triggered a landslide that caused the collapse late Thursday.

Around 90 members of the Disaster and Emergency Management Authority, National Medical Rescue Organization, Red Crescent and gendarmerie are involved in the rescue attempt.

Relatives of the trapped workers are waiting at the mine.

The mine’s operating manager was remanded in custody on Saturday, accused of negligence relating to safety regulations.

The mine is run by Park Elektrik, a member of the Ciner Group which has operated the facility since 2006.

Accidents have beset Turkey’s mining industry in the past. In May 2014, 301 coal miners were killed in the Soma mine in western Turkey -- the country’s worst mining disaster.

In October this year, 18 died in a flood at a coal mine in Ermenek, central Turkey.