"The 'Expendables" - At which moment can you talk of 'Criminal negligence' at the Soma mine?

"The 'Expendables" -  At which moment can you talk of 'Criminal negligence' at the Soma mine?HT: TodaysZaman.

The gas masks given to workers in a coal mine in Soma, a district of western Manisa province, where a tragic explosion and blaze killed 301 people last week, were produced in 1993, and their filters had expired years before the disastrous accident, according to miners.

The gas masks handed out to miners in Soma were produced in China in 1993, and their filters expired several years ago, according to the rescued miners. While modern gas masks have the capacity to provide oxygen for up to two hours, these masks were too old to function.


Barış Kılıç, a miner who was saved from the accident, spoke to reporters on Wednesday, showing them a gas mask given to miners by Soma Kömür İşletmeleri A.Ş. (Soma Mining Company), which operates the mine. “I have worked for this mine for nine years. All workers were given these masks. We did not know how to operate them when they first gave us the gas masks,” Kılıç said, adding that miners were given a lecture on how to operate the gas masks later.

“The gas masks date back to 1993. There is Chinese writing and numbers on the gas masks. We do not know what it means. Most of the masks are moldy. It is very hard to use the masks,” the miner said.Read the full story here.