A 75-year-old couple, the parents of a miner trapped inside a flooded coal mine in southern Turkey, have desperately awaited good news of their beloved son, although almost all hopes faded for his rescue.
Eighteen coal miners have been trapped for nine days after their shaft was engulfed by floodwater during mining activities in the privately-run coal mine in the town of Ermenek, Karaman.
“I have lost my baby. I am still awaiting his arrival by sitting by the window,” said Ayşe Gökçe, speaking to reporters at home. Gökçe reiterated she wants her kid back well and safe, but there is nobody coming back. “What else would I want at such a late age,” she asked.
The briefly-stricken mother’s moaning, “My son would not know about swimming. What would he be doing underground in the flooded water?” has appeared to represent the biggest symbol of national lamenting for the loss of miners still trapped underground.
Meanwhile, Turkey's Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Taner Yıldız made an announcement on the 9th day of the mining disaster's rescue efforts. "All of the debts of the trapped 18 miners have been erased and the credit for the small businesses will be delayed without interest for three months," he said.
A preliminary report into the tragic accident at the mine, operated by Has Şekerler Company, was declared by the Ermenek public prosecutor’s office on Wednesday.
The report, submitted by an expert committee after a three-day search, pointed at a sudden flooding into the operational unit through a weakened jamb which stemmed from the accumulation of water into the old production area over the past years. The report suggested that the huge amount of water has gradually exceeded the threshold value of water pressure before the flash floods engulfed the shaft where the miners are still trapped.
