Three miners were killed and five injured when a firedamp explosion tore through a private coal mine in Zonguldak province on Friday, 23 October.
The blast hit a private coal mine in the Dereiçi area of Gelik, Kilimli district, Zonguldak province. Two miners died after being brought out, the body of a missing third miner was found after hours of search and rescue, and five injured people were taken to hospital.
Disaster teams, medical staff and firefighters were sent to the site. Justice Minister Akın Gürlek said an urgent investigation had been launched; the Zonguldak Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office assigned a deputy chief prosecutor and two prosecutors.
Mine accidents can lead to inspections and temporary stoppages, which can affect local output. Nothing in the report quantifies any effect on supply or prices.
The blast happened in the Dereiçi area of Gelik, in Zonguldak’s Kilimli district, on Türkiye’s Black Sea coast. Firedamp is a mixture of methane and air that can build up underground and ignite from a single spark.
Two miners died after being brought to the surface. A third worker, who had been trapped underground, was found dead after hours of search-and-rescue work. The five injured were taken to hospital; two of them were intubated for burns, and one was transferred to Ankara for further treatment.
Disaster-response teams, medical staff and firefighters were sent to the site. Justice Minister Akın Gürlek said an urgent investigation had been launched, and the Zonguldak Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office assigned a deputy chief prosecutor and two prosecutors to the case. The Ministry of Labour and Social Security opened a separate inquiry.
Authorities had not released further details about the cause of the explosion at the time of the reports.
Zonguldak is home to Türkiye’s main hard-coal basin. Accidents of this kind often lead to safety inspections and temporary stoppages at nearby pits, which can reduce local output for a time. The reports did not point to any effect on coal supply or prices beyond the area.
Source: Daily Sabah and Hürriyet Daily News, 23 October 2026. News reports dated 23 October 2026; details may have been updated since. Summary and wording by Megawise.
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