Death toll in Turkey coal mine blast rises to 40
"We have counted 40 dead in total. 58 miners were able to save themselves," Mr Soylu said following one of Turkey's deadliest industrial accidents in years on Friday. A tearful Energy Minister Fatih Donmez said: "We are approaching the end of the rescue operation." Earlier, Mr Soylu put the death toll at 28 miners, saying that efforts were ongoing to rescue nearly 15 others trapped hundreds of metres underground at the mine in Amasra. Mr Soylu earlier put the number of trapped miners at about 50, out of 110 believed to be working in the mine at the time of the blast, in two separate areas between 300 and 350 metres below ground.