Six miners die in Turkish shaft collapse

A mine shaft collapsed in Turkey, trapping six miners who died of methane gas poisoning, the Anatolia news agency reported today.

The coal mine, near the Black Sea port of Zonguldak, collapsed late yesterday, releasing methane gas, the agency reported, quoting Governor Yavuz Erkmen.

Rescue teams worked through the night to recover the bodies of the six miners, who had been trapped some 1,475 feet below the surface.

Turkey’s worst mining disaster was a gas explosion killed 270 workers near Zonguldak in 1992.