Mine Executives Face Life Time Imprisonment Over Mine Disaster
Eight mining executives have been jailed for life following the tragic deaths of 301 mine workers in Turkeyís worst-ever industrial accident.
On the 13 of May this year in the west of Turkey, a mine explosion at the Soma mine caused a major collapse, it was revealed most of the victims died by carbon monoxide poisoning.
The executives are facing a record 301 counts of manslaughter against them, twenty nine other employees of the Soma Mining company have also be charged with involuntary manslaughter, facing between two and 15 years imprisonment if found guilty.
Executives looking at life imprisonment include CEO of Soma Mining, the son of the companyís owner, Can Gurkan.
Investigations by experts indicated several safety violations at the mine, including a shortage of carbon monoxide detectors, ceilings made of woods instead of metal and lack of high-quality gas masks.
Soma Mining has denied and responsibility.
At the time of the disaster, fury raged against the Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan at the time, accused of indifference to the condition of the victims.
Mr Erdogan, now president, has introduced a new action to improve safety in the countryís mines.
This disaster has awakened concerns over lax safety in Turkey, according to the International Labour Organisation, the country has the highest rate of workplace fatalities in Europe
