232 People Die In Mine Fire

In Soma, Turkey, at least 238 people were found dead inside of a burning mine and as many as 120 people are still believed to be trapped inside. In efforts to save them, it was widely complicated by the fire, which started on Tuesday after one of the transformers blew up during a shift change. Officials say 787 people were inside the mine at the time. Fortunately, some survivors crawled out of the mine in time, before the entrapment. By mid-afternoon rescuers had brought out the first few people, but their conditions were unclear at the time.

This event has gone down as the worst mine disaster in Turkish history, and has left Soma in shock, although this isn't Turkey’s first mining incident. A similar mining accident happened in the 1990s, taking 260 lives. This one however, is suspected to top

those numbers.

Not only has this been affecting personal lives, but it also has its effects on the political system. Prime Minister, Erdogan voiced to politicians, that they should avoid using this as a political platform, as it gives ample amount of room to do so.

As it appears, coal mines have been catching flames recently, as 2 coal miners in West Virginia lost their lives on Tuesday, May 13^th to a coal or rock outburst. Both men were continuous mining machine operators.

Believe it or not, there have been even worst occurrences concerning coal mines that have taken place throughout the years. Take the story of Centralia, PA, a coal mining town for example. The town now has no more than 1000 inhabitants due to the event of a fire that happened in 1962. The fire was initially started to burn trash in a dump, but the fire inadvertently spread to a coal seam underground, which never stopped burning, not even to this day. The fire has lasted for 47 years so far.

Another event that has stood out in history concerning these mines is known as the Cherry Mine Disaster. The coal fields in Illinois have experienced even more dreadful occurrences besides this one but this stood out quite a lot. On November 1909, the electrical system had been down and the coal mine was lit the old fashioned ay, with torches and such. The miners had been moving hay to feed the mules (that were used to pull little cars), and 15-year-old, Matt Fransesco and another gentleman pushed one of the cars that was filled with hay, over the stable area, which unfortunately got stopped by one of the torches, then catching on fire. The fire had spread rather quickly, trapping plenty of men. Some were rescued but unfortunately there were 259 men and boys who were never saved.

In my opinion, due to the vast amount of coal mining disasters that have taken place throughout the years, and throughout the world, I believe safety practices need to be implemented more. Of course working in an underground tunnel will always be tied to danger, but I do think because all the coal mining tragedies that take place are all very similar, a deeper look needs to be taken to see how we can minimize their occurrence.