An explosion and fire in a coal mine in western Turkey claimed the lives of at least 201 miners, injured a further 80 and trapped more than 200 below ground, according to officials.

根据土耳其官方消息，土耳其西部一煤矿发生爆燃，造成至少201名矿工丧生，另有80人受伤，逾200人被困地底。

Turkey’s energy minister Taner Yildiz said at least 201 miners had died in the accident, with the main cause of death being carbon monoxide and dioxide poisoning. He said 400 people were involved in the rescue effort. “Time is not working in our favour,” he added.

土耳其能源部长塔内尔•耶尔德兹(Taner Yildiz)表示，事故中至少有201名矿工丧生，这些人丧生的主要原因是一氧化碳和二氧化碳中毒，目前有400人参与了救援行动。他补充道：“时间不在我们这一边。”

Cengiz Ergun, mayor of the Manisa province encompassing the town of Soma where the accident happened, said nearly 600 workers had been underground at the time of the explosion.

这次事故发生在马尼萨省的索玛镇。该省首府马尼萨市市长坚吉兹•埃尔贡(Cengiz Ergun)表示，爆炸发生时有近600名工人正在地下作业。

The blast in the power unit of the mine in Soma, about 120km northeast of the Aegean coastal city of Izmir, triggered a power cut, making the elevators unusable and leaving hundreds of workers stranded underground.

索玛镇位于爱琴海沿岸的伊兹密尔市东北方大约120公里，是煤矿中电力设备的爆炸引发了停电事故，造成电梯停运，致使数百名工人被困地底。

Television footage showed thousands of fellow workers and relatives gathering outside the local hospital in the coal mining community.

电视视频显示，上千名工人及家属聚集在煤矿开采社区当地的医院之外。

Turkey’s official disaster and emergency response unit, Afad, had put the death toll at the mine near the town of Soma at 70 as of midnight local time.

当地时间午夜时分，土耳其官方灾难及应急响应部门Afad公布的索玛附近矿难死亡人数为70人。

“Unfortunately, we could see a grimmer picture. Looks like it will be a very tough night. The death toll may rise but the rescue teams are working hard,” one government official said.

一位政府官员表示：“不幸的是，我们可能会发现情况越来越严重。今晚将是非常难熬的一个夜晚。死亡人数可能会继续上升，不过营救人员正在努力。”

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan cancelled a trip to Albania scheduled for Wednesday in order to go to the disaster site, sources in his office said.

土耳其总理办公室的人员表示，土耳其总理雷杰普•塔伊普•埃尔多安(Recep Tayyip Erdogan)取消了原定于周三对阿尔巴尼亚的访问，以赶赴救灾现场。

The disaster looked set to fuel a political row as just two weeks ago, Turkey’s main opposition party had filed a parliamentary motion to investigate work-related accidents at the Soma mine. The proposal was rejected.

看起来这一灾难将为仅仅两周前的一场政治争端火上浇油。当时，土耳其主要的反对党在议会提交了一份议案，要求调查索玛煤矿的生产事故，结果该提案遭到了否决。

In a statement, the Soma Coal Mining Company said that an inspection carried out at the mine in March had revealed no safety risks.

索玛煤矿公司(Soma Coal Mining Company)在一份声明中表示，3月份对该煤矿开展的一次检查并未发现任何安全隐患。

More than 3000 workers have died in Turkish mines since 1941. The country’s deadliest coal mine disaster took place in 1992, when an explosion killed 263 workers in the Black Sea province of Zonguldak.

自1941年以来，逾3000名工人在土耳其矿难中丧生。该国死亡人数最多的一次煤矿矿难发生在1992年，当时发生在黑海省宗古尔达克的一起爆炸事故导致263名工人丧生。