Four arrested, nine workers missing after mining accident in Turkey

Four people were arrested this Wednesday turkiye After a mining disaster in which at least nine workers were buried under cyanide contaminated landand which is in danger of becoming, in addition, a Serious environmental problem. State television TRT claims the mine director is one of those detained, although further details are not known at this time. A landslide Tuesday buried nine miners at a gold mine in Turkey’s Erzincan province and threatens to cause an ecological disaster due to the possible release of toxins into the nearby Euphrates River. The accident occurred in an open mine near the Bagistas Reservoir.

About 90 kilometers from the city of Erzincan in eastern Türkiye. Of the missing, five were believed to be in a booth, three in a vehicle and one in a truck.

The tragedy has taken on an international dimension, as landslides made up of 10 million cubic meters of contaminated soil threaten to trigger new avalanches and pollute the Euphrates River, which also crosses Syria and Iraq, due to heavy rain in the area. More than 800 people participate in the search for the workers, an operation complicated by rain and the presence of cyanide and other dangerous chemicals.

Deniz Yavuzilmaz, The vice president of the main opposition party, the Social Democratic CHP, criticized the management of the crisis and said toxic substances were leaching into groundwater, posing a threat not only to Turkey but also to neighboring countries such as Syria and Iraq. ,Due to rain, chemical waste as well as toxic substances get mixed into the ground water.

These waters nourish the rivers. The problem here is international. “These waters cross Turkey’s borders and reach Syria, Iraq,” he said.

Yavuzilmaz also mentioned the rupture of a cyanide pipe in the landslide area and highlighted that there is a seismic fault beneath the mine. Other experts agree that the disaster was predictable due to the mine’s location Areas prone to rainfall and tectonic movements.

The mine, which has been the subject of several demands by local residents for its closure given the danger it poses, has been producing gold since December 2010 and is operated by? Anagold Company,

ownership in 80% Canadian SSR Mining and 20% from Turkish group Çalik.

He The holding company, one of Turkey’s largest industrial conglomerates, is considered close to the Islamist AKP party and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Erdogan’s son-in-law, Berat Albayrak, was Salik’s executive director between 2007 and 2013. Following a leak in June 2022, which resulted in tonnes of cyanide solution leaching into the soil, the company’s operations were suspended for three months, but then, after being fined, it was allowed to restart in a wider area Went.