ISTANBUL, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- The death toll from a mine collapse in the western province of Manisa, Türkiye, has risen to five after rescue teams recovered the bodies of three missing miners on Friday, the Manisa Governor's Office said.
The office said in a statement that search and rescue operations at the privately run mine in the Soma district had concluded after the bodies of the three trapped workers were recovered.
The cave-in occurred at around 1:15 p.m. local time (1015 GMT) on Thursday, trapping a total of seven workers underground.
Four workers were initially pulled from the rubble on Thursday. Two of them died, and the other two were rescued alive and hospitalized for treatment.
Following the collapse, a large-scale rescue operation was launched involving teams from the Disaster and Emergency Management Authority, the gendarmerie, emergency medical crews, and firefighters.
An investigation into the incident is underway, with three public prosecutors assigned to the case, Justice Minister Akin Gurlek said. ■