• At least 28 people were killed in a coal mine explosion in northern Turkey.
• Rescuers worked to bring dozens of other trapped victims to the surface.
• TTK Amasra Muessese Mudurlugu mine, controlled by the government, is located on the Black Sea coast.

At least 28 people were killed in an explosion inside a coal mine in northern Turkey, according to Turkish officials, as rescuers worked to bring dozens of other trapped individuals to the surface.

The TTK Amasra Muessese Mudurlugu mine, controlled by the government and located near the town of Amasra in the province of Bartin on the Black Sea coast, experienced a blast on Friday.

The event claimed the lives of 28 people, according to tweets from the health minister Fahrettin Koca on Friday.

Koca added that 11 of the 58 miners who had been rescued were still receiving medical attention in hospitals and that it was unclear how many others were still trapped inside because of the explosion that occurred when 110 people were working there.

The explosion was probably caused by firedamp, which is a term for flammable gases prevalent in coal mines, according to Energy Minister Fatih Donmez, who travelled to Amasra following the disaster.

Suleyman Soylu, the interior minister, also travelled to Amasra to oversee the rescue effort. Soylu also declined to give a phone number for individuals who were still trapped.

Turkey’s disaster management organization, AFAD, reported that numerous rescue teams, including those from neighboring provinces, were sent to the area.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the president of Turkey, announced he will cancel all other plans and travel to the accident site on Saturday.

Erdogan wrote in a tweet, “Our prayer is that the loss of life will not escalate further, and that our miners will be found alive.”

“This is where all of our efforts are going.

The explosion happened at 15:15 GMT, 300 meters (985 feet) below the mine’s entrance, according to the Bartin governor’s office.

Television photos displayed a large crowd gathered around a damaged white building close to the pit entrance, some of whom had tears in their eyes.

Earlier, the Turkish Maden-Is mining union ascribed the explosion to a buildup of methane gas, but other officials claimed it was too soon to make any conclusions.

A coal mine fire in the western Turkish town of Soma claimed 301 lives in 2014, making it the deadliest mining accident in Turkey’s history.

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