Police Detain 24 in Deadly Turkey Mine Disaster Probe

Turkish authorities detained at least 24 people today in connection with Tuesday's deadly mining disaster, including mining company executives and employees.

Prosecutors were questioning five personnel but it is unclear whether that includes the mine's general manager, Ramazan Dogru, or the operations manager, Akin Celik, who are among those in custody, according to the Dogan News Agency.

The move comes a day after Turkish search and rescue crew pulled the two bodies of the last missing miners from the mine owned by Soma Holding, setting the disaster's final death count at 301.

Final Turkey mining disaster death toll hits 301 amid protests. Read more here.

Turkey's energy minister Taner Yildiz said Saturday the cause of the incident has yet to be determined and that search and rescue efforts would now focus on exactly what happened when a huge explosion and fire ripped through the mine in the small town of Soma, Western Turkey, on Tuesday.

An opposition politician for the Republican People’s Party (CHP) submitted a motion to Turkey’s parliament to investigate safety standards and work-related accidents at coal mines.

"The true cause of the accident will be assessed … through different dimensions," Yildiz told the Associated Press. "There will be lessons to draw for the mining world."

At least 485 miners had escaped or were rescued from the mine. Many others, who did not have gas masks, died from smoke inhalation from the fire, Celik said at a press conference Friday.

The government and mine officials have denied responsibility and said the incident was not caused by negligence.

Company officials also maintain the mine's clean safety record, saying it had been inspected 11 times since 2009 and was fitted with 50 gas sensors.

Grief and protest follow Turkey's worst ever Mining Disaster. Read more here.

"There is no negligence," Celik said. "I have been doing this job for 20 years but I have never seen anything like this. We would not want harm to come to a single fingernail of our workers."

But some insist Soma Holding is responsible.

"The company is guilty," 24-year-old miner Erdal Bicak told the AP. "The new gas levels had gotten too high and they didn't tell us in time."

In the aftermath of the disaster, Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan's comment that "this is what happens in coal mining" sparked outrage and demonstrations in Soma on Wednesday.

The incident has also renewed criticism and anger towards Erdogan and his ruling party, following the heavy-handed crackdown on protests last summer.

'Our hopes are fading': Hundreds dead or missing in Turkish mining disaster. Read more here.

Clashes between protesters and police erupted in Istanbul on Saturday, May 17 as demonstrators demanded an explanation from the government over the Soma mine tragedy.

Civilian demonstrations continued to rock the nation last week in protest of Turkey's work safety record and the government's handling of what has been labeled the country's worst industrial disaster.

In Izmir, Turkey's third most populous city, there were reports of clashes between protesters and police on May 16, involving the use of water cannons.

In Soma, police set up checkpoints and detained dozens of protesters to quell the demonstrations on Saturday, Reuters reported. Cautious security measured remained in place in the town today.

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