The search-and-rescue teams are pumping out water from a collapsed mine in Turkey's Karaman province in an effort to save trapped workers inside, Turkey's Prime Ministry Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency said Tuesday, Anadolu agency reported.
At least 40 workers got trapped when a private lignite mine was reported to have flooded near the Ermenek town in Karaman province, 400 kilometers south of Ankara, earlier in the day.
The disaster management authority, or the AFAD, said the miners were trapped when a water pipe inside the mine exploded.
"Twenty workers are still trapped inside the mine," Karaman's governor, Murat Koca, said.
Koca added that 25 miners were also rescued.
According to a statement issued by the Turkish government's disaster management body, a 225-person team was sent to the scene for the search-and-rescue mission.
"Two aircraft, 20 ambulances and eight AFAD rescue vehicles continue their search-and-rescue efforts. One mobile base station has been set up at the scene and adequate food packets have also been delivered," it said.
Also, Turkey's Energy and Natural Resources Minister Taner Yildiz and Transport, Maritime Affairs and Communications Minister Lutfi Elvan are at the spot.