(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) Turkey's Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Taner Yildiz said Saturday the security services detained seven persons in connection with the mine disaster in Ermenek district, Karaman province, on October 28.
As part of the probe, arrest orders were issued for eight people, including three owners of the mine and five engineers; seven of them have been arrested and one of the owners is still at large, the minister said in a press conference in Ermenek.
The preliminary probes into the safety system indicate that the mine's defense was too weak to resist the flood water which hit six to seven meters at the location; the water inundated the mine and trapped 18 miners during the lunch time, he noted.
The mine operators disregarded the warnings of the miners against the floods and claimed that the water was still 50-60 meters away from the mine, Yildiz said.
He affirmed that the authorities will share with the public any information by the end of the investigations On Thursday he said that rescuers were able to recover two bodies of the 18 trapped miners.
The two victims, identified as Isa Gozbasi, 23, and Kerim Haznedar, 30, were laid to rest in the Asag?caglar village, Karaman, this midday.
Turkey's worst mine disaster took place on May 13, 2014, when an explosion at Soma coal mine in the western Manisa province caused an underground fire and killed 301 people.
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