Thirty-five miners escaped unharmed and another five miners were hospitalised with methane gas poisoning.
The blast collapsed one of two shafts in the mine near the western town of Dursunbey in Balikesir province late Thursday.
“We heard a big bang and dust covered everywhere, there was an intense smell of gas,” news agency Dogan quoted one of the hospitalised miners, Ibrahim Demirbas, as saying.
The explosion occurred nearly 500 feet below the surface.
Two of the miners, Salih Evcimen, 18, and Ismail Aslantas, 22, were killed on their first day of work at the mine, Dogan reported.
Responding to a question over frequent mine accidents, Energy Minister Hilmi Guler denied that government inspections had overlooked any potential problems.
“No, unfortunately these are possible accidents in mining,” Guler said.
Accidents are not uncommon in Turkish coal mines due to safety violations, outdated equipment and high concentrations of methane gas.
