The trial will begin tomorrow for 43 defendants, 5 of whom are in custody, in connection with the landslide that resulted in the deaths of 9 workers who were buried underground at a gold mine in the Ilıç district of Erzincan. The defendants are charged with causing death and injury by negligence, as well as “negligent pollution of the environment.” The incident, which occurred on February 13, 2024, led to the death of 9 workers who were trapped underground at the gold mine in Ilıç. The Ilıç Public Prosecutor’s Office has completed the investigation into the mining disaster.

The defendants, including incarcerated individuals I.R.G, S.K.S, A.R.K, S.Ç. and Ö.A., along with 38 defendants who are not in custody, will stand trial tomorrow on charges of causing death and injury by negligence, and negligent pollution of the environment. The 69-page indictment accepted by the Erzincan 1st Heavy Penal Court requests that all defendants be sentenced to imprisonment for a period ranging from 2 to 15 years for causing death and injury by negligence. In addition, the Canadian executive I.R.G of the company operating the gold mine at the time, along with C.Y.D. and K.Ö., face a separate demand for imprisonment between 2 months and 1 year for environmental negligence causing lasting effects in soil, water, or air.

According to expert reports, fault has been attributed to 43 defendants, with 12 being deemed primarily at fault and 31 secondarily at fault. Investigation and analysis records prepared by law enforcement officers indicate that a color change began on February 11 in the upper left side of the area identified as Ilıç, intensifying significantly towards the lower parts by February 13. The indictment concludes that the incident was an occupational accident according to regulations, with no element of inevitability, and a failure to establish the correct project management mechanism that led to the event. It was determined that capacity was increased as Phase 4B was carried out, with design flaws present in the prepared projects, inadequate monitoring of design criteria during operation, insufficient warning systems, and a lack of a system to effectively manage the incident after cracks gave warnings.

It was noted that obligations under the Mining and Environment Law were not met, leading to capacity increases on a topography that was already in significantly worse conditions after the construction of Phases 1, 2, and 3. The expert report in the indictment concluded that environmental pollution occurred due to exceeding certain parameter limits in relevant regulations. The victims of the mine site include Adnan Keklik, Kenan Öz, Ramazan Çimen, Uğur Yıldız, Abdurrahman Şahin, Fahrettin Keklik, Mehmet Kazar, Şaban Yılmaz, and Hüseyin Kara who lost their lives, while İsa Taşdelen and İshak Demir were injured.