Hundreds stranded as death toll soars

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

NEW: Official death toll grows rapidly, now at 201 people
More than 200 workers are still stranded, disaster agency says
Clean air is reaching parts of the mine where there is no fire, says energy minister

(CNN) -- A fire caused by a transformer explosion in a coal mine in western Turkey killed 201 people, Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz told reporters early Wednesday.

The Natural Disaster and Emergency Coordination Directorate said 80 injured people have been rescued and eight uninjured people were rescued. Crowds gathered around the rescue operation in the post-midnight darkness Wednesday.

Earlier, Manisa Mayor Cengiz Ergun told CNN Turk that the death toll was 157. CNN Turk aired the rescue of one miner to a cheering crowd.

More than 200 workers were still stranded late Tuesday, according to preliminary findings by Turkey's Manisa Natural Disaster and Emergency Coordination Directorate.

Hopes fade for survivors after Turkish mine fire kills at least 245

Reuters | May 14, 2014, 11.14 PM IST
SOMA (Turkey): Hopes faded of finding more survivors in a coal mine in western Turkey on Wednesday, where 245 workers were confirmed killed and around 120 still feared to be trapped in what is likely to prove the nation's worst ever industrial disaster.

Anger over the deadly fire at the mine about 480km (300 miles) southwest of Istanbul echoed across a country that has seen a decade of rapid economic growth but still suffers from one of the world's worst workplace safety records.

Opponents blamed Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's government for privatising the country's mines and ignoring repeated warnings about their safety.
Rescue workers and relatives gather at a coal mine in the western Turkish province of Manisa on Tuesday, May 13. A fire caused by a transformer explosion in the coal mine left more than 160 people dead and trapped hundreds more, officials said. Rescue workers and relatives gather at a coal mine in the western Turkish province of Manisa on Tuesday, May 13. A fire caused by a transformer explosion in the coal mine left more than 160 people dead and trapped hundreds more, officials said.

Rescue workers and relatives gather at a coal mine in the western Turkish province of Manisa on Tuesday, May 13. A fire caused by a transformer explosion in the coal mine left more than 160 people dead and trapped hundreds more, officials said.

Photos: Coal mine explosion in Turkey

Families hold vigil outside Turkish mine

Ergun said 30 workers had been rescued, but he earlier said as many as 400 workers might still be underground.

The mine shaft is about two-thirds of a mile -- or 1 kilometer -- underground, the disaster agency said.

A member of Parliament from Manisa said 16 people were being treated for injuries. The dead and injured seemed to be suffering from burns and suffocation, said Muzaffer Yurttas.

About 100 rescuers, dozens of ambulances and a helicopters were dispatched to the scene, officials said.

"The rescue teams are very experienced," said Yildiz, the minister. "They know what they need to do."

In the initial moments after the blast, "it was important for there to be clean air going underground," Yildiz said. Officials turned an exit pipe "into a clean air pipe," so "there is fresh air being given in places where there is no fire," he added.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, speaking in Ankara, said the country is working "to rescue our stranded brothers." An injured miner is carried out by rescue workers. The mine shaft is about two-thirds of a mile -- or 1 kilometer -- underground, a disaster agency said.