25 workers trapped in Turkish copper mine

Twenty-five workers are believed to be trapped after a fire broke out inside a tunnel at a copper mine in north-western Turkey. Five other injured miners were rescued.

The fire engulfed the mine in the town of Kure in the Kastamonu province, some 185 miles north of the capital, Ankara, said Cem Namli, an official at the mayor’s office in Kure.

“Twenty-five workers are still believed to be trapped inside,” Namli said.

“Five others were rescued and hospitalised,” he said. The severity of their injuries was not immediately clear.

Tahir Kimildar, an official of the Istanbul-based STFA company, which ran the mine, confirmed that a fire had broken out.

“It is in a tunnel inside the mine,” Kimildar said. “We can’t reach our staff, we have no further information.”