Turkish mine toll nears 300 as fire halts recovery bid

A fire broke out on Saturday in part of a mine where nearly 300 miners were killed in Turkey's worst ever industrial disaster, hindering efforts to find up to three remaining workers believed to be still underground, the country's energy minister has said.

Taner Yildiz told reporters the bodies of 15 miners were retrieved overnight, bringing the death to 299, and as many as three workers were still in the mine.

They were unlikely to be alive, four days after an initial fire sent deadly carbon monoxide coursing through the mine.