Turkish Officials Arrested: Two Turkish officals Charged with manslaughter

Two Turkish officials charged with manslaughter


The arrests of the two Turkish officials brought the number of suspects facing
charges of negligent death from mining company, Soma Komur, to five.

The five charged with manslaughter include operations manager of the mine, Akin Celik.

Turkey’s Energy Minister Taner Yildiz, when interviwed, said that a total of 301 people were killed because of the explosion and fire that devastated the coal mine in the town of Soma in Turkey’s Manisa Province on May 13.

Twenty-five mining officials were arrested for questioning by the police on Sunday under orders from investigators.

The lead prosecutor in Soma, Bekir Sahiner, ruled out on the same day said that an electrical fault caused the fire that spread through the mine.

Meanwhile, the sensors pointed to high levels of toxic gas inside the mine as early as two days before the disaster, adding that the company officials failed to record these high levels on logbooks and did not take any precautionary actions.

According to the International Labor Organization, Turkey had the highest number of work deaths in Europe in 2012, and the third highest in the world. From 2002 to 2012, over 1,000 Turkish miners have been killed.

The May 13 blast at the Soma mine has sparked protests in several towns and cities across Turkey as Ankara is under fire for what is seen as its failure to protect and rescue trapped workers.