An explosion inside a coal mine in northern Turkey killed at least 25 people, local officials announced, while rescuers working through the night were trying to bring dozens of others trapped to the surface. The explosion occurred 6:45 p.m. at the state-owned TTK Amasra Muessese Mudurlugu mine in the town of Amasra, in the Black Sea coastal province of Bartin. Energy Minister Fatih Donmez said a preliminary assessment indicated the explosion was likely caused by firedamp — a reference to flammable gases found in coal mines. There were 110 people in the mine at the time of the explosion, Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu, who traveled to Amasra to coordinate the rescue operation, told reporters. Most of the workers were able to evacuate following the blast, but 49 were trapped in a higher risk area of the facility, the minister said. Soylu would not provide a number for those still trapped, saying some among the 49 had been lifted to safety. “We are faced with a picture that we truly regret, that we regret to have to share (with the public),” Soylu said. The Bartin governor’s office said 25 were killed in the blast. Health Minister Fahrettin Koca reported at least 17 injured, including eight who were being treated in intensive care units. Several rescue teams were dispatched to the area, including from neighboring provinces, Turkey’s disaster management agency, AFAD, said. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced he was canceling a planned visit to the southeastern city of Diyarbakir and would travel to Amasra instead to coordinate the rescue operation. He said three prosecutors had been assigned to investigate the incident. “Our hope is that the loss of life does not increase further, that our miners are saved,” Erdogan said in a statement. “All our efforts are geared in that direction.” The private DHA news agency quoted one worker as telling Bartin Gov. Nurtac Arslan that he came out of the mine by his own means. He described feeling a “pressure” but said he could not see anything due to the dust and dirt. People rushed to the mine for news of trapped friends or colleagues, DHA reported. In Turkey’s worst mine disaster, a total of 301 people died in 2014 in a fire inside a coal mine in the town of Soma, in western Turkey.

A Russian court on Saturday ordered five people to remain in pre-trial detention for two months pending an investigation into a devastating blast in a coal mine in Siberia that resulted in dozens of deaths. Russian authorities reported 51 deaths after a methane explosion rocked the Listvyazhnaya mine in the Kemerovo region in southwestern Siberia on Thursday — 46 miners and five rescuers. The tragedy appears to be the deadliest in Russia since 2010. Read: Russia: Death toll in Siberian coal mine blast raised to 52 The Central District Court in the city of Kemerovo ruled to jail the director of the Listvyazhnaya mine, Sergei Makhrakov, his deputy Andrei Molostvov and section supervisor Sergei Gerasimenok. They are facing charges of violating industrial safety requirements for hazardous production facilities that resulted in multiple deaths. If convicted, they may be imprisoned for up to seven years. Two officials of the local branch of Rostekhnadzor, Russia’s state technology and ecology watchdog — Sergei Vinokurov and Vyacheslav Semykin — have also been jailed for two months on the charge of negligence that led to two or more deaths, punishable by up to seven years in prison as well. Law enforcement officials said Friday that miners had complained about the high level of methane in the mine. Russia’s top independent news site, Meduza, reported that this year authorities suspended the work of certain sections of the mine nine times and issued fines of more than 4 million rubles (roughly $53,000) for safety violations. A total of 285 miners were in the Listvyazhnaya mine Thursday morning at the time of explosion, which quickly filled the mine with toxic smoke. A total of 239 people were rescued shortly after the blast, and more than 60 sought medical assistance for an assortment of injuries. Officials on Thursday said 11 miners and three rescuers perished while searching for others in a remote section of the mine. Thirty-five miners were still trapped in the mine when rescuers were forced to halt their search several hours into it because of a buildup of methane and carbon monoxide gas. Three more rescuers went missing and had been presumed dead along with the trapped miners by Thursday might. However, on Friday morning, search teams found one rescuer in the mine who was still alive and conscious. He has suffered shock and carbon monoxide poisoning of moderate severity and is undergoing treatment at a hospital. Read:US seeks balance as fears grow Russia may invade Ukraine Officials have described his rescue as a “miracle” and said that finding any other survivors at that point was highly unlikely. Kemerovo Governor Sergei Tsivilyov on Saturday announced the resumption of the search operation, saying that “we need to lift everybody (to the surface).” He noted, however, that rescue crews must act “cautiously." “We don't have the right to lose even a single person more,” Tsivilyov wrote on the messaging app Telegram. Later Saturday, search teams recovered the bodies of five miners.