Turkish police arrest 18 over Soma disaster
A Turkish prosecutor has announced the arrest of 18 people in the aftermath of the Soma mining disaster.
According to Anadolu, two of the arrestees were company executives.
Turkish news site Hurriyet is reporting that the Soma Coal Mine Company’s operating manager, Ramazan Doğru, and its chief engineer, Akın Çelik, are among the detained company officials.
The move on Sunday comes four days after the company which owns the mine, Soma Komur, declared that it had implemented the “maximum” possible safety measures in the facility, where an explosion on Tuesday left 301 workers dead.
In response to criticism, the company acknowledged that there had been no rooms in the mine where workers could shelter in safety in the event of an accident, but added that these are not required under Turkish law.
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The entrance to the mine has now been bricked up, after the official search and rescue mission was halted on Saturday.
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