Turkey coalmine blast leaves at least 22 dead and 49 still trapped

He also confirmed early reports that 49 miners were still trapped in two separate areas between 300 and 350 metres below ground.

Television images showed anxious crowds congregating around a damaged white building near the entrance to the pit in search of news about their friends and loved ones.

Rescuers sent in reinforcements from surrounding villages to help search for signs of life. Television images showed paramedics giving oxygen to the miners who had climbed out and then rushing them to the nearest hospitals.

The local governor said a team of more than 70 rescuers had managed to reach a point in the pit about 250 metres below.

It was not immediately clear if the rescuers would be able to come any closer to the trapped workers or what was blocking their further passage.

Turkey suffered its deadliest coal mining disaster when 301 workers died in a blast in the western Turkish town of Soma in 2014.