ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – A Turkish public prosecutor’s office ordered the detention of nine individuals in connection with a mine collapse in the coal-mining town of Soma in Manisa province that killed five workers the day prior, state media reported on Friday.

The incident took place on Thursday when a mine collapsed in western Turkey’s Soma town, leading to the death of five workers. The bodies of three of the workers were recovered on Friday by Turkish rescuers, according to local authorities.

A total of seven workers were caught in the incident, two of whom were rescued alive, according to Turkish Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar.

According to Turkish state media, a “comprehensive investigation” was launched into the matter by three prosecutors under the coordination of the Soma Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, which issued detention orders for company officials who had been suspected of involvement in or negligence related to the incident.

“Gendarmerie teams detained nine suspects, including the general manager of the mining company,” Anadolu Agency reported.

Bayraktar expressed sorrow over the incident in a post on X, wishing “a speedy recovery to the miner who remains under treatment and extend our best wishes to the miner who has been discharged.”

“In order to investigate the accident in all its aspects, our General Directorate of Mining and Petroleum Affairs has assigned a team of experts, and the necessary investigations have begun,” he added.

The bodies of two of the victims were handed over to their families following the completion of their autopsies, and were collected by their relatives from the morgue of Izmir Forensic Medicine Institute, according to state media.

The autopsies of the remaining victims are underway.