The "Profession's Fate"

"We are worried that this death toll will rise. I have to say that our hopes are dimming in terms of the rescue efforts."
"We are dealing with an incident that might result with the highest worker loss ever in Turkey. We still want to hope that miners have found small caves to hide in to breathe and survive."
Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz

"All the workers here and the people stuck inside that mine are our friends. We know their wives, their children, their whole families in fact. They are like brothers to us."
"We know there's going to be no one left down there. But we feel the responsibility to bring these bodies back to their families."
Erhan Aydemir, 33, mine worker

"At least 770 people went down, and none of us could yet reach the exact location of the blast. We are not even counting outsiders who come here as part-time, unregistered workers."
"Even after only two sections, where machines and people operated together, were emptied, the death toll is still higher than what has been announced."
"There are other sections where we entirely rely on manpower and have no idea how many people were stuck there at time of the blast."
Bayram Yilmaz, 44-year-old miner, retired

"Even with a gas mask, it is hard to survive. When a power distribution unit explodes, power goes off; when power goes off, ventilation breaks down; when ventilation breaks down, air circulation stops, and so do chances to live."
"We received training as to how to reach up to fresh air in 45 minutes wearing a gas mask. You cannot climb up 1.5 kilometres in 45 minutes."
Sami Kilic, nine years of working at the Soma mine

People dig graves Thursday for miners who died in an explosion in Soma, Turkey. Anger over what's being called the deadliest industrial accident in the country's history has set off protests nationwide.

According to International Labour Organization statistics, 1,172 mining deaths were reported in 2001-2012 in Turkey, represent roughly one hundred deaths on an annual basis. The State-run statistics institute claims 10.4 percent of all work accidents are related to mining. Britain, whose mining sector is known for a large number of fatalities historically, had an average of six mining deaths annually in 2007-2012, by comparison.

The death toll stands now at 282 in Tuesday's coal mine explosion and fire at the Soma coal mine in Turkey. According to Turkish officials 363 miners were rescued, some of them injured. The government claims that up to 150 miners remain unaccounted for while hundreds of relatives and miners wait outside the mine's entrance, around a heavy police presence. The deaths, according to authorities, were caused by carbon monoxide poisoning.

Riots broke out in Istanbul and Ankara, the capital, protesting the government's handling of the disaster. Stones were hurled at police and they in turn used tear gas to disperse protesters. President Erdogan was called a "thief", and a "murderer". In a news conference he expressed his sympathy with the bereaved families: "We as a nation of 77 million are experiencing a very great pain." 

When it became clear that he was the recipient of much of the criticism, he added: "Explosions like this in these mines happen all the time. It's not like these don't happen elsewhere in the world", he complained. They most certainly do, but not with the frequency and the devastating outcome that Turkey experiences. The country is well known for its lax regulations in the mining industry. And there was a warning given not long before this explosion that the government needed to tighten safety regulations.

And nor did he particularly endear himself after a 2010 accident killing 30 miners when he expressed his opinion that death came with the territory: "part of the "profession's fate". In this particular instance, the explosion came just at a time when workers were preparing for a shift change. There are no hard figures about how many people were actually in the mine, as a result. And that special circumstance is certainly responsible for raising the death toll.

Riot police run away from the flames of a fire bomb thrown by protesters as they demonstrate to blame the ruling AK Party (AKP) government on the mining disaster in western Turkey, in Ankara May 14, 2014. (Reuters)