The death toll from a coal mine explosion in northern Turkey has risen to 41.
Relatives waited for news all night outside the state-owned Turkish Hard Coal Enterprise’s (TTK) mine in the town of Amasra, in the Black Sea coastal province of Bartin.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan arrived at the scene on Saturday and attended the first funeral.
"Our priority was to find the miners in the gallery. We finally reached the last one. He also died, bringing the number of deaths to 41," Mr Erdogan said, ending rescue operations after more than 20 hours.
“We will determine how the explosion happened, and whether there is anyone responsible, through administrative and legal investigations,” he said.
Eleven miners were injured and taken to hospital, with five in serious condition, while another 58 managed to get out of the mine unaided or were rescued unharmed, officials said.
Energy Minister Fatih Donmez said: “We are approaching the end of the rescue operation.”
Mr Donmez said the explosion caused a fire in the mine's gallery, where most of the trapped miners were located.
“Around 10 to 11 people are in the area where the fire is continuing. It’s not a huge fire, but (for rescuers) to get there safely, the fire and carbon monoxide gas must be eliminated,” he said.
“There are partial cave-ins in some areas. We evaluate that our other four or five workers are trapped in cave-ins.”
Interior Minister Suleyman Soyl said 11 of the rescued miners were being treated in hospital.
“Six were taken to city hospitals in Istanbul by ambulance planes of the Ministry of Health and they are being treated there. Five injured are currently in Bartin,” he said.
The UAE has expressed its sincere condolences and solidarity with the Republic of Turkey for the victims of the mine explosion.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation expressed its sincere condolences and sympathy to the Turkish government, its friendly people, and the families of the victims, wishing a speedy recovery to all the injured.
Recai Cakir, mayor of Asmara, said some of the survivors suffered serious injuries.
Television footage showed anxious crowds around a damaged white building near the entrance to the pit to await news of friends and loved ones.
Turkey's mineworkers' union Maiden Is said the explosion was caused by a build-up of methane gas, but officials said it was too early to draw definitive conclusions over the cause of the accident.
The national disaster management service said the spark that caused the explosion appeared to have come from a malfunctioning transformer.
It later withdrew that report and said methane gas had ignited for “unknown reasons”.
The local public prosecutor's office said it was treating the incident as an accident and launching an investigation.
Turkey suffered its deadliest coal mining disaster in 2014, when 301 workers died in a blast in the western town of Soma.
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Fixtures
Friday Leganes v Alaves, 10.15pm; Valencia v Las Palmas, 12.15am
Saturday Celta Vigo v Real Sociedad, 8.15pm; Girona v Atletico Madrid, 10.15pm; Sevilla v Espanyol, 12.15am
Sunday Athletic Bilbao v Getafe, 8.15am; Barcelona v Real Betis, 10.15pm; Deportivo v Real Madrid, 12.15am
Monday Levante v Villarreal, 10.15pm; Malaga v Eibar, midnight
