Turkey: 24 executives detained over deadly mine blast in Amasra

Turkish police on Thursday detained 24 suspects including the top official of a state-owned mine in Amasra town of northwest Turkey, two weeks after an explosion killed 41 people there, state-run Anadolu news agency reported. 

The mine's director Cihat Ozdemir, was among the detained and One other suspect was still missing according to Anadolu.

After the blast, President Tayyip Erdogan pledged a full inquiry into the incident saying “nobody will be spared,” but also said he believed in destiny. 

Relatives of the dead claimed that miners had complained of the smell of gas in the mine for about 10 days before the explosion.

The opposition has accused the government of failing to take the necessary measures to prevent the disaster.

An extensive report filed by the main opposition CHP (Republican People’s Party) found incorrect air conditioning increased the death toll in the mine disaster and accused state-owned Turkish Coal Institution (TTK) of placing profit before its role as a public institution.

Turkey suffered its deadliest coal mining disaster in 2014 when 301 workers died in a blast and ensuing fire that brought down a mining shaft in the western town of Soma.

All of the officials responsible for the Soma blast were released as of February 2021. HDP Co-Chair Pervin Buldan said that impunity policy comforts mining companies in Turkey as “lack of control, impunity, and the greed for profit lead to miners’ death.”