Barten / Anatolia

The Turkish Minister of Health, Fahrettin Koca, announced, on Friday, that the death toll from the mine explosion in the northern Barten state of the country has risen to 22.

And he added, in a statement via his Twitter account, that 8 injured are receiving treatment in intensive care, 4 others in outpatient clinics, and 5 in the field.

Earlier on Friday, Turkish Interior Minister Suleiman Soylu announced that 14 miners were killed and 21 injured in the mine explosion.

In a press statement in front of the stricken mine, he said that the explosion trapped 49 people in the dangerous area inside the mine.

He added that the rescue teams recovered the bodies of 14 workers, while 7 wounded people were transferred to the hospital, 3 of whom are in serious condition, indicating that rescue work for the rest of the trapped is continuing.

In turn, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Fatih Donmez announced that preliminary investigations showed that the explosion was caused by a gas leak.

In a related context, the Turkish Presidency Communication Department announced, in a statement, that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan postponed his visit to the state of Diyarbakir scheduled for tomorrow, Saturday, and decided to go to Barten, to supervise the progress of rescue operations in the mine located in the "Amasra" area.