A fatal accident occurred in 2014 in a lignite mine in Soma, Turkey, killing 301 people. Now mine workers have again been convicted.
Istanbul (AP) – More than seven years after the serious mine accident in Soma, western Turkey, with hundreds of deaths, a court has again pronounced judgments against the defendants.
A chairman of the mine had been sentenced to 20 years, two engineers to 12 years and 6 months in prison, the government-affiliated news agency Demirören Haber Ajansi reported on Wednesday. Among other things, they were convicted of negligent homicide. A chairman of the board was acquitted. Relatives criticized the decision as a “reward” instead of a “punishment”, as the online portal “Gazete Duvar” reported. The victim’s lawyers announced that they would appeal.
The accident in May 2014 in a lignite mine resulted in 301 deaths. The cause has not yet been fully clarified. Most of the victims suffocated, among other things because, according to media reports, there was a lack of ventilation systems and shelters. Hundreds of miners were injured. It was the worst mining accident in the history of Turkey.
An Istanbul court had overturned judgments from an initial trial that ran until 2018 and ordered a new hearing. The process that has now ended began in April. The original trial had ended with the sentencing of 14 of the then 51 defendants to several years in prison. However, the court’s decision had been heavily criticized – among other things because the sentence between 6 and 22 years in prison was well below expectations. The now convicted CEO was also sentenced to a long prison term in the first trial, but was released in 2019, according to Turkish media.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210616-99-14558 / 4
