Search for miners continues under dangerous conditions

The desperate search for the missing miners continues at the Turkish mine in Soma.

So far, 283 bodies have been brought to the surface by the rescue team but experts say that hundreds other might still be trapped underground.

The tragedy comes after a fire followed by an explosion trapped hundreds of miners underground with no functioning lifts and no ventilation.

Rescue efforts have been slowed down by the hazardous conditions in the mine, where smoke still fills the galleries and poisons the search team members.

'Several of our friends were poisoned because of smoke.We cannot enter some sections before the smoke is cleared, that is why we keep waiting,' said rescuer Ozgur Ciftci.

Meanwhile, family members of miners still trapped underground are going through difficult moments as the whole rescue operation lenghtens. One relative, after waiting for over 30 hours at the mine pit for news about her brother, said that 'dead or alive they should get him out.'

The government declared a three-days national mourning which ends on Friday.

Grief begins to be replaced with rage as the people blame the government for the tragedy and believe it could have been avoided if safety measures had been taken previously.

In Izmir and Istanbul unions declared a one-day strike after yesterday the angry mob at the Soma mine attacked the Prime Minister's car.