14 February 2024

Authorities on Wednesday detained four people in connection with a massive landslide that engulfed a gold mine in eastern Turkey, leaving at least nine workers missing, Turkish state media reported.

The landslide struck the Anagold Madencilik company’s Copler mine in the town of Ilic in Turkey’s mountainous Erzincan province on Tuesday ...

More than 800 search and rescue personnel ... were deployed to search for the nine missing personnel ...

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Police, meanwhile, detained four senior mine officials, including the field manager, as part of an investigation into the disaster, national broadcaster TRT reported.

Experts have warned that the landslide may carry environmental risks ...

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The mine was closed down in 2020 following a cyanide leak into the [Euphrates] river ... It reopened two years later after the company was fined and a cleanup operation was completed.

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In the wake of [other mining] incidents, engineers warned that safety risks were frequently ignored and inspections not adequately carried out.