After a landslide, nine workers were trapped in a Turkish gold mine.

Nine laborers are horribly trapped in a gold mine in eastern Turkey as a result of a disastrous landslide. Tuesday’s catastrophe befell the Copler mine, which is situated in the rough terrain of the province of Erzincan in the town of Ilic.

A terrifying video shows a massive chunk of dirt rushing down a ravine and devouring everything in its path. The landslide’s source, a pile of soil taken out of the mine, was revealed by Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya, highlighting the dangerous circumstances faced by those caught in its path.

In a desperate attempt to free the trapped workers, a massive search and rescue effort involving 800 people—police, military teams, mine rescuers, and volunteers—is under way. In the midst of the mayhem, worried families and other miners wait nervously for information in the hopes of a miraculous rescue.

But in addition to the current human catastrophe, worries about possible environmental consequences are growing. The processed dirt from the landslide, according to geologist Suleyman Pampal, may contain dangerous materials like cyanide, which is used to extract gold. This poses a serious risk to the ecosystem in the area. It is concerning that the neighboring Euphrates River is in danger, so officials have quickly blocked off a stream to avoid contaminating it.

This catastrophe rekindles concerns stoked by other environmental incidents connected to the Copler mine, such as the 2020 cyanide leak into the Euphrates. The persistence of these occurrences highlights structural flaws in Turkey’s mine safety laws, even in the face of fines and cleanup initiatives. Sadly, this calamity is only one more in a long line of mining mishaps in the country’s recent past, which also includes the 2014 Soma coal mine tragedy that claimed 301 lives.

The effectiveness of safety precautions and regulatory monitoring in Turkey’s mining sector is under scrutiny as the hunt for survivors moves forward and inquiries into the accident get underway. The repeated cautions from engineers about inadequate safety procedures serve as a clear reminder of the pressing need for extensive changes to prevent other tragedies.