 A family member cries over the coffin of a lost miner during a funeral ceremony in Zonguldak. DHA photo |
The families of two miners killed in an explosion in May are in mourning again following the removal of the men’s bodies by some of their own relatives and colleagues.
A team of 10 Chinese miners began work in December to recover the bodies of Dursun Kartal, 41, and Engin Düzcük, 31, from the Karadon mine in the Black Sea province of Zonguldak, finally reaching them Tuesday.
“The Chinese team saw the bodies before we did. However, they said they couldn’t retrieve them as they were scared. As a team of five people, we descended [into the mine] and recovered them,” said Kartal’s uncle, Adnan Kartal, who took part in the operation.
“The [bodies] were in an unrecognizable state,” he said.
Thirty miners were killed in a methane gas explosion May 17 at the mine owned by the Turkish Hard Coal Institute, or TTK. The missing workers were believed to have fallen into a well in the mine, which is 735 meters deep and filled with water.
“If our [authorities] had handled the task that was given to the Chinese firm just after the incident, our grief would have been alleviated a bit. Now it is refreshed,” said Kartal’s 23-year-old son, Turgut Kartal, the Doğan news agency, or DHA, reported Wednesday.
Due to the bodies’ condition after eight months underground, the families of the two victims are grieving while waiting for DNA identification to be made by the Forensic Medicine Institute. “These funerals could have been held earlier. They have made us wait too long,” said Hayriye Düzcük, 30, the wife of Engin Düzcük.
No one has been detained in connection with the deadly blast even though eight months have passed since the explosion, Turgut Kartal said, asking how the responsible parties could wander around as if nothing had happened.
“Thirty people died. Why are the responsible ones still free? And the company is still operating. I can’t understand how it can still run. I can’t find words to say,” Turgut Kartal said while crying and hugging his bed-ridden grandmother, 81-year-old Fatma Kartal.
Hayriye Düzcük said she was happy the bodies had at last been recovered after eight long months.
“On the one hand I was sad; on the other hand, I am grateful that the bodies were found,” she said. “For eight months, we waited helplessly, with our hands tied. Their graves are ready. We will hold our funerals at the same location.”
A team of 10 Chinese miners began work in December to recover the bodies of Dursun Kartal, 41, and Engin Düzcük, 31, from the Karadon mine in the Black Sea province of Zonguldak, finally reaching them Tuesday.
“The Chinese team saw the bodies before we did. However, they said they couldn’t retrieve them as they were scared. As a team of five people, we descended [into the mine] and recovered them,” said Kartal’s uncle, Adnan Kartal, who took part in the operation.
“The [bodies] were in an unrecognizable state,” he said.
Thirty miners were killed in a methane gas explosion May 17 at the mine owned by the Turkish Hard Coal Institute, or TTK. The missing workers were believed to have fallen into a well in the mine, which is 735 meters deep and filled with water.
“If our [authorities] had handled the task that was given to the Chinese firm just after the incident, our grief would have been alleviated a bit. Now it is refreshed,” said Kartal’s 23-year-old son, Turgut Kartal, the Doğan news agency, or DHA, reported Wednesday.
Due to the bodies’ condition after eight months underground, the families of the two victims are grieving while waiting for DNA identification to be made by the Forensic Medicine Institute. “These funerals could have been held earlier. They have made us wait too long,” said Hayriye Düzcük, 30, the wife of Engin Düzcük.
No one has been detained in connection with the deadly blast even though eight months have passed since the explosion, Turgut Kartal said, asking how the responsible parties could wander around as if nothing had happened.
“Thirty people died. Why are the responsible ones still free? And the company is still operating. I can’t understand how it can still run. I can’t find words to say,” Turgut Kartal said while crying and hugging his bed-ridden grandmother, 81-year-old Fatma Kartal.
Hayriye Düzcük said she was happy the bodies had at last been recovered after eight long months.
“On the one hand I was sad; on the other hand, I am grateful that the bodies were found,” she said. “For eight months, we waited helplessly, with our hands tied. Their graves are ready. We will hold our funerals at the same location.”
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