Initially 18 men were reported missing when the underground coal mine was flooded on October 28.

The first two bodies were recovered the following week [November 6] and plans to recover the two recently-found bodies are underway.

According to Cihan News Agency, three owners of the mine and five engineers were detained on November 8 with owner Saffer Uyar arrested by court order two days later.

“It has been revealed that the company was previously fined for failing a series of inspections,” CNA reported early last week.

“In addition, mining was stopped at the mine two weeks ago after flooding occurred due to a water leak. The leak was fixed, but water left in the mine's gallery was not removed.”