Some 20 miners are reported to have been trapped after a coal mine near the Pamuklu village in the Ermenek district of Karaman collapsed following a flash flood.

The incident occurred around noon, when water that had accumulated underground flooded a gallery in the mine, Karaman Governor Murat Koca told Anadolu Agency.

“Over 40 workers were in the mine at the time of the incident, when there was a problem in one gallery. The other workers left the mine but 20 miners were left working in the flooded gallery,” Koca said.

Rescue teams and ambulances have been dispatched to the area to save the trapped workers.

A total of 301 miners were killed in Turkey's worst mining disaster in the western district of Soma, in Manisa province, in May of this year.