The death toll in an explosion in a coal mine in western Turkey is now 274 workers killed, with more than 100 still missing.  This grim milestone makes it Turkey’s worst-ever mine disaster.  And there is anger over revelations the government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan refused to investigate safety at the mine just a couple of weeks ago.

Erdogan visited the town of Soma in Manisa province, but he was not greeted warmly.  Hundreds of angry people beat and kicked his motorcade as he arrived, and crowds surrounded Erdogan as he walked the streets.  They shouted epithets and called him a “murderer” and a “thief”, and demanded he resign.  Massive protests also broke out around the headquarters of the mine’s owner in Istanbul, and in the capital Ankara.  Cops responded with water cannons and tear gas.

Their anger was only fueled by Erdogan’s defensiveness.  He offered condolences, but also said, “Explosions like this in these mines happen all the time.  It’s not like these don’t happen elsewhere in the world,” and then proceeded to recite mining tragedies in other countries dating back to the 19th century.

But the tragedy would be investigated to its “smallest detail,” Erdogan said as more bodies were pulled from the mine, and “no negligence will be ignored”.  That was not the case two weeks ago.

Member of Parliament Ozgur Ozel of the Leftist Republican People’s Party (CHP) said that two weeks ago, he proposed an investigation into working conditions in the Soma Mine and its owner SOMA Komur Isletmeleri A.S.  But it was soundly rejected with votes from Erdogan’s ruling AK Party.

Turkey's Labor and Social Security Ministry said the Soma mine had been inspected two months ago, and four other times since 2012.  Supposedly, no issues that violate workers’ safety and security were detected.  But people in Soma said these inspections were a farce.  They say the company always knew in advance that the “unannounced” inspectors were coming, often weeks in advance.