Five Receive Jail Terms İn Turkey's Firedamp Probe

A local court in Turkey has given prison sentences on Friday, ranging from five to 10 years, for five suspects being tried regarding 2010's deadly firedamp disaster in northwestern Turkey.



The 2nd High Criminal Court of Zonguldak concluded the case into the deaths of 30 miners in Zonguldak province and acquitted 23 out of 28 suspects.



Eleven other miners were also wounded in the firedamp blast in May 2010 at Zonguldak's Karadon mine.



The mine belongs to the Turkish Hardcoal Authority, or TTK, and the contractor company was Yapi-Tek.



The court sentenced both Yapi-Tek's official, Halim Kose, and project manager, Kadir Ipek, to 10 years in jail.



It also imposed a 6 year and three month jail term on mine manager Ismail Guner and sentenced two other mine officials, Mustafa Kucuk and Yusuf Unluturk, to five years each.



Turkey has recently suffered another mine accident in its central Karaman province, where 18 miners were trapped underground on Tuesday after a water pipe malfunction caused a flood in the mine.



According to officials, the water inside the collapsed coal mine has begun to decrease after teams deployed a second pump to flush out water in a race to rescue the trapped miners.



www.aa.com.tr/en - Zonguldak