Defendants Testify without Arrest at 15th Hearing of Soma Mine Disaster Case

The 15th hearing of Soma trial relating to the mining disaster in western Turkey in May 2014 which left 301 miners dead, commenced on Monday at Akhisar High Criminal Court in Soma district of Manisa province.

One of the company employees facing charges of homicide through conscious negligence, safety engineer Yalçın Erdoğan, was among the defendants without arrest on Monday’s hearing. Erdoğan said at his testimony that he participated in rescue efforts on the day of the disaster, but when he entered the mine, there was no material among the equipment to retain the poisonous gases, as a result of which he had to leave the pit.

Erdoğan said, relevant officials did not inform him of what his duty would be at the time of an emergency at the coal mine. He said, an emergency drill never took place at the site together with the attendance of the rescue team and all workers. Erdoğan said, he currently worked as a safety engineer at the Eynez mine (currently not functioning), but above the ground.

Another company official and a defendant without arrest at the case, safety engineer Necati Karadeniz, were among those who bore a testimony on Monday. Karadeniz said at his testimony that he has been working at the mine since 2012 and is still working at the Eynez mine.

Karadeniz also said at the hearing that he had felt an increase of temperature in the mine prior to the mine accident, and had already informed of his superiors about this situation.

Another defendant without arrest, safety engineer Coşkun Derici, said that he never came across a Turkish Coal Enterprise (TKİ) employee for inspection in the mine during his three-month employment period. 

What happened?

The bill of indictment about the workplace murder that took place in Soma on 13 May 2014 at the Eynez mine demanded a case be filed against 46 people including 8 of them were jailed. 162 injured workers were the plaintiffs.

(NV/DA)

* Photo Credit: AA/ Ferdi Uzun

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