2014 -- H 8270

========

LC005811

========

     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2014

____________

H O U S E   R E S O L U T I O N

EXPRESSING CONDOLENCES UPON THE DEATHS OF HUNDREDS OF MINERS AS A

RESULT OF A COAL MINE EXPLOSION IN THE TOWN OF SOMA IN WESTERN

TURKEY

     Introduced By: Representatives Costa, Shekarchi, Trillo, McLaughlin, and Giarrusso

     Date Introduced: June 03, 2014

     Referred To: House read and passed

     WHEREAS, On Tuesday, May 14, 2014, an explosion tore through a coal mine in Soma,

Turkey, as more than seven hundred workers prepared for a shift change. The ensuing fire cut off

electricity to the mine, trapping hundreds of miners almost a mile beneath the surface; and

     WHEREAS, Although three hundred and eighty-three miners had been rescued by the

day after the explosion, three hundred and one deaths have been confirmed, making the Soma

mine explosion the most deadly in Turkey's mining history; and

     WHEREAS, The assistance efforts made by the Council of Turkic American Association,

on a purely humanitarian basis, were critical in aiding all in need of assistance; and

     WHEREAS, Tragedies of this magnitude transcend geographical boundaries, and the

memories of the lives lost will live on in the hearts of their families and in the nation who mourns

them; now, therefore be it

     RESOLVED, That this House of Representatives of the State of Rhode Island and

Providence Plantations hereby extends its deepest sympathies to the relatives and friends of

miners who died in the Soma, Turkey, explosion and does hereby share in the hopes that peace

and comfort will be granted to those who remain; and be it further

     RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and hereby is authorized and directed to

transmit a duly certified copy of this resolution to Furkan Kosar, President, Council of Turkic

American Associations.

========

LC005811

========

LC005811 - Page 2 of 2