2014 mine fire in Turkey
On 13 May 2014, blasting at Eynez coal mine in Soma, Manisa, Turkey, caused an underground mine fire, which burned until 15 May. In total, 301 people were killed, making it the worst mine disaster in Turkey's history. The mine, operated by coal producer Soma Kömür İşletmeleri A.Ş., suffered a fire, the causes of which were later found to be complex. The fire occurred at the mine's shift change, when 787 workers were underground. At the time, the disaster was thought to be mainly an explosion rather than fire. After the last bodies were pulled from the mine on 17 May 2014, four days after the fire, the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Taner Yıldız confirmed the number of dead was 301. Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD) announced the names of the 301 workers who died in the mine disaster and the 486 miners who survived. 
Miners protested against dangerous mining conditions in late 2013 and the demand by the main opposition party, the Republican People's Party, to investigate the mine's safety was rejected in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey with votes from the ruling Justice and Development Party only weeks before the disaster.
An official expert report was published in 2016 which found several causes of the disaster, including inadequate official inspections.
Background.
Mining accidents are common in Turkey, which has poor mine-safety conditions. According to a report issued in 2010 by the Turkish Economy Policies Research Foundation (TEPAV), in 2008, deaths per 1 million tons of coal mined were 7.22 in Turkey (the highest figure in the world), 5 times the rate in China (1.27) and 361 times the rate in the US (0.02). Official statistics record that more than 3,000 coal miners died in mining accidents from 1941 to April 2014. 78 miners were killed in accidents in 2012, and 95 died in 2013. Prior to the Soma disaster, the deadliest accident in recent Turkish mining history was an explosion which killed 263 people in 1992.
The mine, formerly a state-owned company, had been privatized in 2005. In 2012 Alp Gürkan, CEO of Soma Holding, indicated that since privatization the cost of producing coal had decreased from about $140 to $24 per ton.
In November 2013 hundreds of coal miners protested against working conditions by barricading themselves in a mine in Zonguldak.
On 29 April 2014, the Republican People's Party's demand for a parliamentary investigation regarding the safety in Soma mines was rejected by the Grand National Assembly.
Fire.
The fire killed 301 workers, mostly from carbon monoxide poisoning. Because the fire took place close to shift change, the exact number of employees underground at the time was initially uncertain.
Rescue effort.
Rescue crews arrived at the mine soon after the explosion and provided fresh air to the mine workings in an effort to keep those workers still trapped underground alive. Four mine rescue teams were deployed underground to look for trapped miners; however, thick smoke initially hindered progress in the operations to rescue more workers from the mine.
Reactions.
Others.
A black ribbon with a notice that read "condolences to all of us" was placed on the Turkish Google homepage on 14 and 15 May.
Football clubs Beşiktaş, Fenerbahçe, Galatasaray and Trabzonspor from Turkey, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, and Sheffield United from England, Atlético Madrid and Barcelona from Spain, Borussia Dortmund and Schalke 04 from Germany, Porto from Portugal, and Persepolis from Iran published messages of condolence about the disaster. Beşiktaş announced that all revenue of the match to be played the following weekend would be donated to the needy in Soma. Galatasaray and Atlético Madrid played a friendly match in İzmir, as did Sheffield United and Fenerbahçe at Bramall Lane, with income donated to the victims' relatives. Fenerbahçe announced that they would offer one hundred scholarships for five years to children in Soma.
Investigations.
An official expert report was prepared by 8 academics and an electrical engineer and published in 2016. Four other expert reports were published. 
Shortly after 2 p.m. on the day of the disaster the heaved floor of the main road was deliberately blasted for the conveyor belt. Soon after this blasting, a roof fall occurred and a fire started in the roof near the blasting point. The fire ignited some wooden pieces used to fix steel sets. With the help of methane, the upper part of the conveyor belt also caught fire. The ventilation system short circuited near the fire.
Many recommendations for improving safety were made both by official reports and others, including better inspections, better communication and alarm systems, and more planning for emergencies.
37 people were acquitted in a trial which ended in 2018, and 14 were found guilty of causing death and injury by negligence, some of whom served up to seven years in prison.
References.
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