Ankara, Nov 9 (IANS): Seven people have been detained in connection with a coal mine disaster in Turkey's Central Anatolia region, Energy Minister Taner Yildiz said.
Eighteen miners were trapped inside the coal mine in Ermenek Oct 28, Hurriyet news reported.
Only two bodies were retrieved after 11 days of efforts to discharge tonnes of water accumulated in the mine.
"The chief prosecutor informed us that one of the detained suspects is the owner of the mine. Two others are his partners. The other five are technical personnel," Yildiz said Saturday.
Sixteen miners remain trapped in the mine as efforts continue to rescue them.
Turkey's largest ever industrial disaster had let to the death of 301 miners in Soma town in May.