Mine Explosion in Turkey

[LovelyLadyLux]

I saw a day or two ago that there was an explosion in an underground mine in Turkey leaving 200+ trapped miners. Was reading about historic dangerous mining conditions and this latest tragedy. Hopefully the trapped miners will be rescued safely.

It has to be terrible on the families to have a member trapped and not knowing if they are alive or injury or worse.

I hope Turkey is able and capable of mounting rescue efforts but given the history of mine disasters the country has had....???

[Grandad]

There was an explosion yesterday LLL and as the shift was changing there were more than normal men down the mine, over 700 I believe. The latest we have is that 230+ confirmed dead and at least 100 still not found or accounted for.
There was a mine disaster in Turkey last year when over 90 lost their lives. It must raise questions about their safety procedures. Such a hazardous occupation.

[LovelyLadyLux]

I'm a bit out of it re: time and I might have seen the first report of the mine explosion in the wee hours which is making me think it was 2 days ago.

Anyway saw the report on TV this morning and this disaster looks awful. My fear is that Turkey does NOT have the means to rescue these men and given all that is happening in the middle east rescuers from other areas won't be easy to access. The anguish these families are experiencing must be awful.

[Horus]

Having worked in some of the deepest mines in the world I can only say that my heart goes out to them especially those still alive and underground. My biggest nightmare was that I would be trapped underground due to some sort of similar accident, thankfully I survived without incident, but just thinking about it gives me the shivers, I pray they will be rescued.

[LovelyLadyLux]

I'm VERY claustrophobic and could NEVER go down into the ground. How people do it is beyond me. I realize that one has to do what one has to do to survive but going deep down into a mine would put me over the edge. How you did it Horus would be beyond me. How anybody could go into absolute pitch darkness is beyond me.

I hope these miners if trapped have the same discipline as the other miners in Chile (?) (darn I can't remember where) who were trapped about a year ago and managed via self discipline/will power/fellow miner support/grace of God to stay alive until rescued.

The news here hasn't said but has Turkey asked any other countries for help?

[Horus]

I can't see it happening with the Turkish miners as there are too many people to get out and the mine is very badly constructed from what I have seen of it. Turkey is very backward in it's mining methods and employs people where machinery is the safer option.

[LovelyLadyLux]

Seems to be an extremely bad tragedy in the making and by my way of thinking probably won't change any safety or other standards once the immediate crisis is resolved.

[carrie]

Just been speaking to a friend in Turkey, the Gov were warned about conditions in this mine three weeks ago, mines in Turkey were privatised some 18 months ago and many said at the time that safety would take a back seat. Seems they were right.

[LovelyLadyLux]

Ohhhhh - didn't realize they were privatized which does make it pretty common for safety standards to be ignored or let side. I can't even hardly force myself to think about those miners trapped and slowly dying with no hope of rescue.

With the Chilean miners trapped underground there was 'at least' hope AND they survived! Am not nearly as optimistic for these poor souls in Turkey.

[Horus]

You do have to wonder at what cost is energy produced, we in the UK closed down probably the best run coalmines in the world because cheaper coal was available elsewhere. Now we can see the true cost of cheap coal, several hundred lives, because to mine it cheaply you have to cut corners.

[LovelyLadyLux]

Do you think the average guy or gal on the street equates the loss of lives of miners in Turkey to the price of energy? I'm not sure the average guy cares. Sad but I don't think people really care so long as they get cheap energy which means to me that this disaster is just one in a long line of disasters.

[Horus]

They probably don't, but my point was that if a country has set up strict rules and regulations to protect it's workers from injury and death that these come at a financial cost. It is therefore easy for a lesser regulated country to disregards those safety rules and undercut other producers.

[LovelyLadyLux]

True. "Profits" usually rule in any country, society, culture.