Forty confirmed dead in coal mine blast in Turkey

A relative of a missing miner breaks down outside the site (Khalil Hamra/AP)

The death toll from a coal mine explosion in northern Turkey has increased to at least 40 people.

Desperate relatives had waited all night in the cold outside the state-owned TTK Amasra Muessese Mudurlugu mine in the town of Amasra, in the Black Sea coastal province of Bartin, hoping for news.

There were 110 miners working in the shaft when the explosion occurred on Friday evening.

The families’ wait for news turned to devastation by noon on Saturday, and the funerals of some of those killed were held later in the day.

Rescuers at the mine (Khalil Hamra/AP)

Women cried at the funeral of miner Selcuk Ayvaz, whose coffin was wrapped in the red and white Turkish flag.

Interior minister Suleyman Soylu said 40 miners were confirmed dead. Eleven were injured and in hospital, while 58 others managed to get out of the mine on their own or were rescued unharmed.

The status of one remaining miner is unclear.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited the scene on Saturday afternoon, after saying any neglect of safety measures would be punished.

The relatives of those missing gathered outside the mine (Khalil Hamra/AP)

Preliminary assessments indicate the explosion was caused by firedamp, which is a reference to flammable gases found in coal mines, energy minister Fatih Donmez said.

A miner who works the day shift said he saw the news and hurried to the site to help with the rescue.

Celal Kara, 40, said: “We saw a frightful scene, it cannot be described, it’s very sad.

“They’re all my friends… they all had dreams.”

In Turkey’s worst mine disaster, 301 people died in 2014 in a fire inside a coal mine in the town of Soma, in western Turkey.