Turkey mourns for the 282 victims of the tragic accident whereas Turkish media reveals that the wife of the owner of the mine is working for the party of Tayyip Erdogan and her husband has disappeared.
Rescuers found more dead bodies rising the death toll to 282, as it was announced this morning by the Minister of Energy. Four unions called for strike today protesting against the accident and the lack of safety measures in the mine.
Sorrow has turned to fury and Tayyip Erdogan is shown to going in a supermarket with his guards surrounded him in order to avoid the angry relatives of miners attacking him.
The tragedy occurred at the mine in western Turkey turns to a great political scandal for the Turkish Prime Minister.
Once again, Erdogan is subjected to severe criticism by the Turkish public opinion and the unions are angry with him for the poor safety standards applied in mines after their privatization.
Last month, the Turkish government rejected the opposition’s demand to investigate the matter of compliance with the safety measures at the mines. The Minister of Labour announced that the last inspection of the mine was made about a month ago, on March 17, and that it was found that the company complied with all standards.
At the same time, the provocative statement of Erdogan while the country mourns has caused turmoil. When he was asked about the accident in the coal mine at Somma he said “Mining accidents are common”.
According to authorities, there are still about 90 miners trapped underground the earth’s surface, but the chances of them being alive are close to zero.
“There have not been any survivors for the last 12 hours” the Minister stressed adding that the rescue teams still do not have access to two galleries.
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