ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Nine miners were still missing eight hours after a landslide at an Anagold Mining operation in eastern Turkey on Tuesday, the energy ministry said, with rescue efforts underway.
The mine in Erzincan province is operated by Lidya Madencilik and owned by Turkey-based Calik Holding and Denver, Colorado-based SSR Mining, which is listed in Toronto and the Australian stock exchange.
SSR did not immediately respond to a request for comment at its Turkey office.
Security footage showed a giant mound of soil, which authorities said had been processed for gold and piled on the hills, rapidly crumble and flow into the valley in a deluge of earth and rocks, sending clouds of dust into the air.
Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said 400 search and rescue workers were looking for the missing miners.
“In order to closely coordinate the rescue work, I will interrupt my international program with our president and move to the region as of tonight,” Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said in a posting on X, formerly Twitter.
The government said it has launched an investigation into the incident.
(Reporting by Burcu Karakas and Ece Toksabay; Editing by Jonathan Spicer, David Goodman and Bill Berkrot)
