Yildiz also said two more workers were believed to be trapped in the mine based on information from their families, but that they are unlikely to be alive.

We have identified their locations and will end the rescue operation after retrieving them, he added.

Some 485 miners have either escaped or been rescued from the mine since an explosion took place in the mine in the western city of Soma.

People took to the streets across Turkey to express their outrage over the mining tragedy, which they say was the result of the government’s failure to ensure that safety standards were observed at the Soma mine.

The government has promised a full-scale investigation into the cause of the incident.

Both the government and the mining company, Soma Komur, have denied that negligence was a factor behind the tragedy.

We have all worked very hard. I have not seen such an incident in 20 years, said Akin Celik, Soma Komur’s general director.

Lignite coal mining is a major industry in Turkey’s Soma. A similar incident in 1992 killed 263 miners near the city of Zonguldak in the Black Sea region of Turkey.