A methane gas explosion at a private coal mine in Zonguldak province in northern Turkey killed two workers and injured five others, while efforts continued to rescue another worker trapped underground.
Today, Friday, 23 October 2026, Turkish authorities announced that, following a methane gas explosion at a private hard-coal mine in the town of "Gelik" in the Kilimli district of Zonguldak province in northern Turkey, two workers had died and five others had been injured, while teams were making intensive efforts to extract another worker located hundreds of meters underground.
The statement said that immediately after the incident, security, health, the Turkish Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD), and the Turkish Hard Coal Enterprise (TTK) rescue teams arrived at the site of the explosion. As search-and-rescue operations continued, a comprehensive judicial and administrative investigation was launched to determine the cause of the gas accumulation and explosion and the extent to which the mine's management had complied with occupational safety requirements.
Osman Hacı Bektaşoğlu, the governor of Zonguldak, confirmed the deaths of the two workers at a press conference and said: "All efforts are now focused on rescuing the worker who remains underground. Contact has been established with the worker, and efforts to extract him are continuing, but his health condition has not yet been fully determined."
Meanwhile, health officials said that, after receiving first aid at the scene, the five injured workers had been transferred to nearby hospitals in the area, and that the health condition of two of the injured workers was critical.
