insiderblm
According to the country’s president, 41 people were killed in a coal mine explosion in northern Turkey.
The discovery of the last missing body brings the rescue operation to a close, more than 20 hours after the deadly blast on Friday.
Earlier, the interior minister stated that 58 people who were working in the mine when the blast occurred were rescued or escaped on their own.
According to Suleyman Soylu, ten people remained in the hospital and one was discharged.
At the time of the blast on Friday, approximately 110 people were inside the mine, nearly half of whom were more than 300m (984ft) underground.
Rescue workers had been digging through rock all night in an attempt to find survivors.
Miners emerged from the facility in Amasra, on the Black Sea coast, blackened and bleary-eyed, accompanied by rescuers.
Family and friends of the missing were also seen at the mine, waiting for word on their loved ones.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, along with other ministers, has been visiting the site in Bartin province and has confirmed that the final missing person has been found dead.
Turkish prosecutors have launched an investigation into the cause of the explosion, but preliminary evidence suggests that it was caused by firedamp, a term referring to methane forming an explosive mixture in coal mines.
It is thought to have happened around 300m down. Mr Soylu stated that 49 people were working in the “risky” zone between 300 and 350m underground at the time.
According to Energy Minister Fatih Donmez, there were partial collapses inside the mine but no active fires, and ventilation was functioning properly.
Recai Cakir, the mayor of Amasra, said many of those who survived had “serious injuries.”
“There was dust and smoke, and we don’t know exactly what happened,” said one worker who escaped on his own.
The mine is owned by Turkish Hard Coal Enterprises, a state-owned enterprise.
In 2014, 301 people were killed in Turkey’s deadliest coal mining disaster, which occurred in the western town of Soma.
