2010 Zonguldak mine disaster

The 2010 Zonguldak mine disaster occurred in Zonguldak Province, Turkey, on May 17, when 30 miners died in a firedamp explosion at the Karadon coal mine.

The mine is operated by the state-owned Turkish Coal Corporation (Türkiye Taşkömürü Kurumu, TTK). On May 20, 2010, rescuers retrieved the bodies of 28 workers;{{cite news |author=Ivan Watson and Yeşim Cömert |title=Bodies of 28 trapped Turkish miners found |url=http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/05/20/turkey.miners/ |work=CNN.com |date=May 20, 2010 |accessdate=May 20, 2010 |archive-date=January 21, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120121080959/http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/05/20/turkey.miners/ |url-status=live }} the bodies of two more were only recovered eight months later.{{cite news |title=2 madencinin cesedine ulaşıldı |url=http://www.zaman.com.tr/haber.do?haberno=1080839 |newspaper=Zaman |date=January 19, 2011 |language=Turkish |accessdate=March 4, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120314014156/http://www.zaman.com.tr/haber.do?haberno=1080839# |archive-date=2012-03-14 |url-status=dead }} This was the third mining disaster in Turkey in six months: 19 miners were killed in December 2009 in a methane gas explosion in Bursa Province, and in February 2010, 13 miners died after an explosion in a mine in Balıkesir Province.

According to statistics collected by the General Mine Workers Union (Genel Maden İşçileri Sendikası) of Turkey, 25,655 accidents occurred in Turkish Coal Corporation mines during the preceding ten years (2000–2009), in which over 26,000 mine workers were injured, and 63 lost their lives.{{cite news |author=Semra Pelek and Çiçek Tahaoğlu |title=At least 28 Casualties in Mining Explosion |url=http://www.bianet.org/english/labor/122127-at-least-28-casualties-in-mining-explosion |publisher=BİA News Center |date=May 20, 2010 |accessdate=May 20, 2010 |archive-date=June 20, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100620160241/http://bianet.org/english/labor/122127-at-least-28-casualties-in-mining-explosion |url-status=live }} According to statistics by the Chamber of Mining Engineers (Maden Mühendisleri Odası) of Turkey, a total of 135 miners were killed in mining accidents in general in the years 2008 and 2009.{{cite news |title=Kalemini kader mi kırdı? |url=http://www.birgun.net/actuels_index.php?news_code=1274366654&year=2010&month=05&day=20 |newspaper=BirGün |date=May 20, 2010 |language=Turkish |accessdate=May 20, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110103092756/http://www.birgun.net/actuels_index.php?news_code=1274366654&year=2010&month=05&day=20 |archive-date=January 3, 2011 |url-status=dead }}

Prime Minister Erdoğan, visiting the site of Zonguldak in 2010 after the accident, declared that the "people of this region are used to incidents like this", which are "the fate [{{langx|tr|{{italics correction|kader}}}}] of this profession", while calling protests against the unsafe working conditions in the state mines a "provocation".{{cite news |title=Erdoğan: Bölge insanı bu tür olaylara alışık |url=http://www.radikal.com.tr/Radikal.aspx?aType=RadikalHaberDetay&ArticleID=997774&Date=20.05.2010&CategoryID=97 |work=Radikal |date=May 20, 2010 |language=Turkish |accessdate=May 20, 2010}}