Grief Turns to Violence in Turkey as Prime Minister Calls Mining Tragedy Typical

Violence has erupted in the industrial town of Soma, Turkey, the site of a mine collapse that killed at least 238 workers, as relatives of the dead and missing direct their rage at the Turkish government.

"These are usual things," Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Wednesday, one day after the blast in the coal mine

"I went back in British history. Some 204 people died there after a mine collapse in 1838. In 1866, 361 miners died in Britain. In an explosion in 1894, 290 people died there,” Erdoğan said, inexplicably ticking off mining disasters from 19th century England. The remarks echo a speech the prime minister gave in 2010 when 30 miners died in a coal mine incident in Zonguldak. He called their deaths "fate," then, which also sparked protests over their insensitivity. Read more...