Chilling testimonies from witnesses at the 4th hearing of the Amasra Mine Massacre trial: 'Sensors were lowered so they wouldn't trigger alarms'

The trial of 23 defendants, 7 of whom are in custody, continues regarding the explosion at the Turkish Hard Coal Enterprises (TTK) Amasra Establishment mine on October 14, 2022, which resulted in the deaths of 43 workers and injuries to 9 others.

Following the acceptance of the 195-page indictment prepared by the Bartın Chief Public Prosecutor's Office by the Bartın High Criminal Court, and after the hearings held on April 25-28, May 3-5, and July 24-25, the fourth session of the trial continues on its second day.

During the hearing, which continues with the testimony of witnesses, mine worker Aykut Atak stated that they had experienced ventilation problems in the last month and that the mine was hotter than in previous times.

"SENSORS WERE LOWERED SO THEY WOULDN'T TRIGGER ALARMS"

Explaining that mask training was insufficient and that he himself could not open his mask during rescue efforts, Atak said, "There was production pressure; we used to bring out 100 carts, but lately they wouldn't let us leave without bringing out 120 carts of coal. When the gas level rose, the sensors located above were lowered to a lower level so they wouldn't trigger an alarm. It was our supervisors who did this. Because the electricity is cut off when the sensor is triggered, the wagons don't move. To prevent this, the sensors were lowered. Several times, when the methane gas level rose and the sensors reached the alarm level, they were lowered right in front of us, and production continued again."

Mine worker Şener Bensiz stated that he participated in the rescue efforts on the day of the explosion and that they opened their masks by looking at each other with his friends, adding, "I mean, we couldn't open them easily. There was also a lot of favoritism at my workplace. Those who were the chief's or manager's men worked less and were given easier tasks. There was also a lot of production pressure. Whenever the gas level rose during production, the sensors were lowered so they wouldn't beep."

"MOBBING, FAVORITISM, INJUSTICE"

Worker Hasan Ergin also stated that there was injustice, favoritism, production pressure, and mobbing at the establishment, and that Operations Manager Selçuk Ekmekci changed his duty station because he reported these situations to the establishment manager via a petition.

Mine worker Vural Çolak explained that when he participated in the rescue efforts, he could not open his own mask and used another friend's mask.

"THERE WAS A LACK OF VENTILATION, WE WOULD START OUR SHIFTS EXHAUSTED"

Stating that he saw many of his friends who were injured in the explosion and lost their lives due to gas poisoning were not wearing masks, Çolak continued as follows:

"Some couldn't open the mask, some opened it but it fell apart in their hands. My late friends passed away because they couldn't reach the mask stations. If there had been stone dust application, we wouldn't have had so many losses. Even though the inspectors saw that stone dust was not applied, they didn't say anything. Again, during inspections, they specifically routed the inspectors through other areas so they wouldn't see the gas levels and the sensors that had been lowered. There was also a lack of ventilation. We always started our shifts exhausted. There was production pressure. Sensors were lowered due to production pressure. Everything is very much in order right now. There are instructions everywhere, gas measurements are taken every day, and inspections and precautions are at a high level. We have only just seen and learned how to work."

WHAT HAPPENED DURING THE COURT PROCESS?

In the explosion that occurred at the TTK Amasra Establishment mine in the Amasra district of Bartın on October 14, 2022, at around 18:15, 41 workers lost their lives and 11 workers were injured. One worker lost his life in the hospital to which he was transferred on November 4, 2022, and another worker lost his life in the hospital where he was receiving treatment on April 5.

Within the scope of the investigation carried out by the Amasra Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, 24 suspects, including TTK Amasra Establishment Manager Cihat Özdemir, were detained.

Among the suspects, TTK Amasra Establishment Manager Cihat Özdemir, Deputy Establishment Manager Salih Atmaca, Operations Manager Selçuk Ekmekci, Occupational Safety and Training Chief Engineer Volkan Soylu, Chief Engineer Mehmet Tural, as well as mining engineers responsible for the production units Levent Aydın and İbrahim Hakan Mengeş, and safety engineer Şahan Kahraman were arrested on charges of "causing the death and injury of more than one person through conscious negligence." Judicial control provisions were applied to 4 suspects, and 3 of the suspects were released by the judgeship they were brought before, while 9 were released after their questioning by the prosecutor's office. A decision of non-prosecution was issued for one person among these suspects during the investigation process.

In the indictment, it is requested that the detained defendants Özdemir, Ekmekci, Soylu, and Tural be sentenced to a total of 840 to 1050 years in prison for the crime of "killing with eventual intent" 42 times, and a total of 4 years and 16 months to 12 years in prison for the crime of "injury with eventual intent" 4 times.

In the indictment, where these 4 defendants are requested to be sentenced to a total of 844 years and 16 months to 1062 years each for two crimes, the other 19 defendants, 4 of whom are in custody, are requested to be sentenced to 2 years and 8 months to 22 years and 6 months each for the crime of "causing the death and injury of more than one person through conscious negligence."

The court panel, in the interim decision it announced at the hearing on April 28, decided to release deputy establishment manager Salih Atmaca with judicial control conditions and to continue the detention of the other 7 defendants.