වෙසක්දා මුස්ලිම්වරු 300ක් පනපිටින් වැලළේ
Outrage in Turkey as adviser to prime minister kicks mine disaster mourner near scene of tragedy as violent protests sweep country
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The photograph of Yerkel was quickly circulated on Twitter, with user MarquardtA describing the scene as 'insane'
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Vicious: The protester was being held down by Special Forces police officers when Yerkel launched his attack
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It's been reported that Yerkel attacked the protester after he kicked a car in the Turkish Prime Minister's convoy
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Yerkel was about to be driven away when he launched the astonishing attack, it's been reported
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Yerkel kicked the protester three or four times, according to witnesses
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Position of power: Yusuf Yerkel, circled, pictured to the right of Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan during a visit to the coal mine in Soma on Wednesday
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A rescuer carries blankets from the coal mine a day after the explosion
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Rescuers walk towards the site on Thursday, with dozens of miners still trapped over a mile below ground
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This map shows the scale of the mine at Soma
Police using water cannons on mine disaster protest in Turkey
examples of 19th-century mine accidents in Britain.
Erdogan has made no secret of his desire to become Turkey's first popularly elected president. His party swept local elections in March despite a corruption scandal that forced him to dismiss four government ministers in December and later also implicated him and family members.
Erdogan denies corruption, calling the allegations part of a plot to bring his government down.
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Turkish President Abdullah Gul (left) visiting mine workers and relatives
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Show of support: President Gul visiting an injured Soma mine worker
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President Abdullah Gul and his entourage during a walk around the mine
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Venting frustration: Relatives of trapped miners protest during President Gul's walkabout
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People wait outside the mine in Soma on Thursday, where dozens of miners are still missing
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Ready and waiting: Members of the Turkish forces wait outside the Soma coalmine
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Riot police use tear gas against protesters during a demonstration blaming the ruling AK Party government for the mining disaster
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Riot police dispersed protesters with tear gas and rubber bullets during a protest in Istiklal avenue in Istanbul
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Water was also pumped at the crowds, as Turkey declared three days of mourning on 14 May as the death toll from the country's worst mining disaster in more than two decades soared
Rescue teams have recovered eight more victims from the coal mine in western Turkey, raising the death toll in Turkey's worst mining disaster to 282, a government minister said Thursday.
Even as hopes for some 150 other miners trapped underground faded, Energy Minister Taner Yildiz told reporters that rescue efforts were focusing on two areas inside the mine.
Yildiz said the search for survivors had been hampered by a mine fire that had spread to a conveyor system - engulfing a 200 meter-long (650-foot) stretch - but progress had been made on extinguishing it.
Rescue operations have been suspended several times as burning coal inside created toxic fumes and too-risky conditions for the rescue teams.
The government has said 787 people were inside the coal mine at the time of Tuesday's explosion and 363 were rescued, including scores who were injured.
The death toll topped a 1992 gas explosion that killed 263 workers near Turkey's Black Sea port of Zonguldak.
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Conflict: Hundreds of protesters clashed with Turkish police in Ankara over the disaster
+38
Police fired tear gas and water cannon as demonstrators hurled fireworks, shouting anti-government chants
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A still image taken from a video of rescue work being carried out at the mine accident site on Wednesday
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Danger zone: Around 120 workers were still trapped in the mine as of Wednesday afternoon
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A huge rescue operation was mounted to save the miners
Authorities said the disaster followed an explosion and fire at a power distribution unit and most deaths were caused by carbon monoxide poisoning.
Erdogan promised the tragedy would be investigated to its ‘smallest detail’ and that ‘no negligence will be ignored.’
Mining accidents are common in Turkey, which is plagued by poor safety conditions. Tuesday's explosion tore through the mine as workers were preparing for a shift change, which likely raised the casualty toll.
Turkey's Labor and Social Security Ministry said the mine had been inspected five times since 2012, most recently in March, and that no safety violations were detected. But the country's main opposition party said Erdogan's ruling party had recently voted down a proposal to hold a parliamentary inquiry into a series of small-scale accidents at the mines around Soma.
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People pray during the funerals for the victims of the Soma disaster
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Mourning: A man sits near graves during the funeral of a miner who died in the coalmine fire
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Tragic: Locals in Soma quickly began digging graves for the hundreds of victims
+38
Volunteers worked all day marking out spaces in a field and digging as hundreds are still unaccounted for
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A miner sits on a bench in a state of exhaustion
On Wednesday rescue workers emerged at a slow pace from the mine with stretchers carrying bodies, which were covered in blankets. The corpses' faces were blackened like the coal.
One man, who declined to be named, said he had led a 10-man team about a kilometer (half-mile), or halfway, down the mine into the tunnels and had recovered three bodies.
But the men had to flee because of smoke from coal that had been lit by the explosion, he said.
Another man walked down the stairs from the mine's entrance weeping, with a look of dejection. Behind him, two groups bearing heavy stretchers pushed through the crowd like caterpillars.
+38
Turkish riot policemen group together for protection during a demonstration in Ankara
+38
Street battle: Riot police run away from the flames of a fire bomb thrown by protesters as they demonstrate to blame the ruling AK Party government on the mining disaster
+38
Arrest: Riot police detain a protester during a demonstration against the ruling AK Party
+38
Sombre: Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan visits the scene
As bodies were brought out on stretchers, rescue workers pulled blankets back from the faces of the dead to give jostling crowds of anxious family members a chance to identify victims. One elderly man wearing a prayer cap wailed after he recognized one of the dead, and police restrained him from climbing into an ambulance with the body.
Overnight, people cheered and applauded as some trapped workers emerged. But others were consumed by grief.
Emine Gulsen, part of a group of women who sat wailing near the entrance to the mine, chanted, ‘My son is gone, my Mehmet.’ Her son, Mehmet Gulsen, 31, has been working in the mine for five years.
Mehmet Gulsen's aunt, Makbule Dag, held out hope. ‘Inshallah’ (God willing), she said.
Police set up fences and stood guard around Soma state hospital to keep the crowds away.
SOMA Komur Isletmeleri A.S., which owns the mine, said the accident occurred despite the ‘highest safety measures and constant controls’ and added that an investigation was being launched.
Support: Pope Francis urged his millions of followers to pray for the miners who died in the blast
+38
Rescuers carry a miner who sustained injuries to an ambulance. The explosion, which triggered a fire, occurred shortly after 3 pm - midday GMT - on Tuesday and the death toll is feared to be rising. Local hospitals have been overwhelmed by the scale of the disaster
Death toll in Turkish mine blast exceeds 200
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Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said: 'Evacuation efforts are underway. I hope that we are able to rescue them'
+38
Rescue workers look on as smoke billows from the coal mine
+38
Rescue workers were at the entrance of the mine all Tuesday afternoon following the explosion which occurred during a change in shift patterns for the miners
+38
Energy Minister Taner Yildiz said: 'It is a serious accident. Our priority is to reach our miner brothers'
Outrage in Turkey as adviser to prime minister kicks mine disaster mourner near scene of tragedy as violent protests sweep country
- At least 282 killed and dozens trapped after blast at mine in Soma, Turkey
- 787 miners were working below surface of coal mine when blast occurred
- Explosion and fire occurred 2km below ground during change in shifts
- Fellow workers and relatives gathered at mine amid rescue operation
- Turkish Prime Minister has declared three days of national mourning
- Protesters shouted 'Murderer!' and 'Thief!' at Turkish Prime Minister
- Yusuf Yerkel, an adviser to the PM, photographed kicking a mourner
By TED THORNHILL
PUBLISHED: 09:59, 15 May 2014 | UPDATED: 15:19, 15 May 2014
1,831 shares
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An adviser to the Turkish prime minister has sparked outrage after kicking a Soma mine disaster mourner.
Yusuf Yerkel, one of Recep Tayyip Erdogan's aides, has admitted kicking a protester who was being held on the ground by Special Forces police officers.
The incident, which has led to widespread anger on social media, occurred as Erdogan visited Soma in the wake of the coalmine tragedy.
Scroll down for video
+38
The photograph of Yerkel was quickly circulated on Twitter, with user MarquardtA describing the scene as 'insane'
+38
Vicious: The protester was being held down by Special Forces police officers when Yerkel launched his attack
+38
It's been reported that Yerkel attacked the protester after he kicked a car in the Turkish Prime Minister's convoy
+38
Yerkel was about to be driven away when he launched the astonishing attack, it's been reported
+38
Yerkel kicked the protester three or four times, according to witnesses
+38
Position of power: Yusuf Yerkel, circled, pictured to the right of Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan during a visit to the coal mine in Soma on Wednesday
+38
A rescuer carries blankets from the coal mine a day after the explosion
+38
Rescuers walk towards the site on Thursday, with dozens of miners still trapped over a mile below ground
+38
This map shows the scale of the mine at Soma
Police using water cannons on mine disaster protest in Turkey
examples of 19th-century mine accidents in Britain.
Erdogan has made no secret of his desire to become Turkey's first popularly elected president. His party swept local elections in March despite a corruption scandal that forced him to dismiss four government ministers in December and later also implicated him and family members.
Erdogan denies corruption, calling the allegations part of a plot to bring his government down.
+38
Turkish President Abdullah Gul (left) visiting mine workers and relatives
+38
Show of support: President Gul visiting an injured Soma mine worker
+38
President Abdullah Gul and his entourage during a walk around the mine
+38
Venting frustration: Relatives of trapped miners protest during President Gul's walkabout
+38
People wait outside the mine in Soma on Thursday, where dozens of miners are still missing
+38
Ready and waiting: Members of the Turkish forces wait outside the Soma coalmine
+38
Riot police use tear gas against protesters during a demonstration blaming the ruling AK Party government for the mining disaster
+38
Riot police dispersed protesters with tear gas and rubber bullets during a protest in Istiklal avenue in Istanbul
+38
Water was also pumped at the crowds, as Turkey declared three days of mourning on 14 May as the death toll from the country's worst mining disaster in more than two decades soared
Rescue teams have recovered eight more victims from the coal mine in western Turkey, raising the death toll in Turkey's worst mining disaster to 282, a government minister said Thursday.
Even as hopes for some 150 other miners trapped underground faded, Energy Minister Taner Yildiz told reporters that rescue efforts were focusing on two areas inside the mine.
Yildiz said the search for survivors had been hampered by a mine fire that had spread to a conveyor system - engulfing a 200 meter-long (650-foot) stretch - but progress had been made on extinguishing it.
Rescue operations have been suspended several times as burning coal inside created toxic fumes and too-risky conditions for the rescue teams.
The government has said 787 people were inside the coal mine at the time of Tuesday's explosion and 363 were rescued, including scores who were injured.
The death toll topped a 1992 gas explosion that killed 263 workers near Turkey's Black Sea port of Zonguldak.
+38
Conflict: Hundreds of protesters clashed with Turkish police in Ankara over the disaster
+38
Police fired tear gas and water cannon as demonstrators hurled fireworks, shouting anti-government chants
+38
A still image taken from a video of rescue work being carried out at the mine accident site on Wednesday
+38
Danger zone: Around 120 workers were still trapped in the mine as of Wednesday afternoon
+38
A huge rescue operation was mounted to save the miners
Authorities said the disaster followed an explosion and fire at a power distribution unit and most deaths were caused by carbon monoxide poisoning.
Erdogan promised the tragedy would be investigated to its ‘smallest detail’ and that ‘no negligence will be ignored.’
Mining accidents are common in Turkey, which is plagued by poor safety conditions. Tuesday's explosion tore through the mine as workers were preparing for a shift change, which likely raised the casualty toll.
Turkey's Labor and Social Security Ministry said the mine had been inspected five times since 2012, most recently in March, and that no safety violations were detected. But the country's main opposition party said Erdogan's ruling party had recently voted down a proposal to hold a parliamentary inquiry into a series of small-scale accidents at the mines around Soma.
+38
People pray during the funerals for the victims of the Soma disaster
+38
Mourning: A man sits near graves during the funeral of a miner who died in the coalmine fire
+38
Tragic: Locals in Soma quickly began digging graves for the hundreds of victims
+38
Volunteers worked all day marking out spaces in a field and digging as hundreds are still unaccounted for
+38
A miner sits on a bench in a state of exhaustion
On Wednesday rescue workers emerged at a slow pace from the mine with stretchers carrying bodies, which were covered in blankets. The corpses' faces were blackened like the coal.
One man, who declined to be named, said he had led a 10-man team about a kilometer (half-mile), or halfway, down the mine into the tunnels and had recovered three bodies.
But the men had to flee because of smoke from coal that had been lit by the explosion, he said.
Another man walked down the stairs from the mine's entrance weeping, with a look of dejection. Behind him, two groups bearing heavy stretchers pushed through the crowd like caterpillars.
+38
Turkish riot policemen group together for protection during a demonstration in Ankara
+38
Street battle: Riot police run away from the flames of a fire bomb thrown by protesters as they demonstrate to blame the ruling AK Party government on the mining disaster
+38
Arrest: Riot police detain a protester during a demonstration against the ruling AK Party
+38
Sombre: Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan visits the scene
As bodies were brought out on stretchers, rescue workers pulled blankets back from the faces of the dead to give jostling crowds of anxious family members a chance to identify victims. One elderly man wearing a prayer cap wailed after he recognized one of the dead, and police restrained him from climbing into an ambulance with the body.
Overnight, people cheered and applauded as some trapped workers emerged. But others were consumed by grief.
Emine Gulsen, part of a group of women who sat wailing near the entrance to the mine, chanted, ‘My son is gone, my Mehmet.’ Her son, Mehmet Gulsen, 31, has been working in the mine for five years.
Mehmet Gulsen's aunt, Makbule Dag, held out hope. ‘Inshallah’ (God willing), she said.
Police set up fences and stood guard around Soma state hospital to keep the crowds away.
SOMA Komur Isletmeleri A.S., which owns the mine, said the accident occurred despite the ‘highest safety measures and constant controls’ and added that an investigation was being launched.
Support: Pope Francis urged his millions of followers to pray for the miners who died in the blast
+38
Rescuers carry a miner who sustained injuries to an ambulance. The explosion, which triggered a fire, occurred shortly after 3 pm - midday GMT - on Tuesday and the death toll is feared to be rising. Local hospitals have been overwhelmed by the scale of the disaster
Death toll in Turkish mine blast exceeds 200
+38
+38
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said: 'Evacuation efforts are underway. I hope that we are able to rescue them'
+38
Rescue workers look on as smoke billows from the coal mine
+38
Rescue workers were at the entrance of the mine all Tuesday afternoon following the explosion which occurred during a change in shift patterns for the miners
+38
Energy Minister Taner Yildiz said: 'It is a serious accident. Our priority is to reach our miner brothers'
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