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Turkey opts for microchips to protect miners

Reluctant to enforce the addition of costly safe rooms in mines, the Turkish government proposes to equip miners with microchips, a measure that would mostly serve to locate their corpses in the event of accidents.
A boot and a helmet are seen in a changing room used by coal miners after a mining disaster in Soma, a district in Turkey's western province of Manisa May 14, 2014. Rescuers were still trying to reach parts of the coal mine in Soma, 480 km (300 miles) southwest of Istanbul, almost 48 hours after fire knocked out power and shut down the ventilation shafts and elevators, trapping hundreds underground. At least 282 people have been confirmed dead, mostly from carbon monoxide poisoning, and hopes are fading of

Mining accidents seem to be Turkey’s destiny. Deadly disasters caused by methane gas explosions, fires, cave-ins and flooding occur almost on a yearly basis. More than 3,000 miners have been killed in Turkey since 1941, including 78 in 2012 and 95 in 2013.

The main reason behind the tragedies is the inadequate level of safety measures in workplaces. In October 2013, lawmakers of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), backed by colleagues from the two other opposition parties in parliament, submitted a proposal to create a parliamentary inquiry commission to look into the rising number of accidents. The proposal, spearheaded by CHP deputy Ozgur Ozel, called for an inquiry into the reasons and persons responsible for deadly accidents in Soma, a region dotted with coal mines in western Turkey. The proposal, which made it to the general assembly only on April 29, was voted down by Justice and Development Party (AKP) lawmakers, who hold a comfortable majority in parliament.

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