Early tallies gave two dead and five injured, while a later account put the death toll at three. Interior Minister Mustafa Çiftçi said one person was still trapped in the mine.
Governor Osman Hacibektasoglu said two of the injured miners were in serious condition, and one was being taken to Ankara for treatment.
Preliminary information pointed to a methane gas explosion at the private mine in Gelik, around 10:00 local time on Friday, 23 October 2026.
An explosion at a private mine in Gelik, in the Kilimli district of Zonguldak province on Turkey's Black Sea coast, killed workers on Friday, 23 October 2026. Turkish media place the blast at around 10:00 local time. Teams from AFAD, Turkey's disaster and emergency agency, along with medical crews and firefighters, were sent to the site. Rescuers brought seven people out of the mine, two of them dead. Preliminary information pointed to a methane gas explosion, but no further details about the cause had emerged in the first reports.
Early tallies differ on the death toll. Some reports gave two dead and five injured, with two of the injured in critical condition. AP said rescuers were still trying to reach another worker who remained inside the mine. A later account put the toll at three, saying a worker who had been trapped in the galleries was pulled out dead by rescuers. Interior Minister Mustafa Çiftçi said one person was trapped and that search and rescue work was continuing. The sources therefore give a toll of two or three, and the figure could still change while the rescue goes on.
Osman Hacibektasoglu, the governor of Zonguldak, told reporters that two of the injured miners were in serious condition. One of them was being taken to the capital, Ankara, for treatment. Medical teams and rescuers were sent to the scene to help the injured. The cause was not immediately known at the time of the first reports. Interior Minister Mustafa Çiftçi described the incident as a methane flash, in line with the preliminary methane reports.
Mine accidents are not uncommon in Turkey, and one of the country's worst mine disasters came in 2014, when 301 people died in a coal mine fire in Soma, western Turkey. Turkish-language coverage says the Soma disaster was caused by a methane explosion and carbon monoxide poisoning. The same coverage says methane explosions cause more deaths than any other type of mining accident in the country. Coal formation releases large volumes of gas, most of it methane, and that gas can build up in coal seams and surrounding rock. Drilling into the seams at set intervals is used to release the gas in a controlled way and prevent disasters.
Rescue efforts for the remaining trapped worker were continuing at the time of the reports. The two critically injured miners were receiving treatment, with one transferred to Ankara. The sources do not give a final death toll or a confirmed cause, so both points remain open. The reports also do not name the company that operates the private mine.
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The blast in Gelik, Zonguldak province, also injured five people, two of them in critical condition, while one worker was reported trapped. Early tallies of two dead were later followed by a report of three.
AI text based on reports by H Kαθημερινή, BBC, europa press and other publishers. Published .