'Revulsion' over Turkey response as mine blast toll tops 300

Turkish rescue workers were today battling fires to reach the last two coal miners trapped by the country's worst-ever industrial disaster that has killed 301 workers and led to a surge of anger over the government response.
Energy Minister Taner Yildiz said two miners were still thought to be in the collapsed mine, based on information from families, while 485 have either escaped or been rescued since Tuesday's explosion in the western town of Soma.
"We have identified their locations and will end the rescue operation after retrieving them," Yildiz told reporters in Soma.
A fire in a nearby part of the mine complex had hampered rescue operations earlier in the day but had been brought under control, he said.

The nationwide trauma over the incident has turned to rage, fuelled by claims of negligence against mine operators and what many see as a heartless response from the government.
A preliminary expert report on the accident, obtained by the Milliyet newspaper, pointed to several safety violations in the mine, including a shortage of carbon monoxide detectors used to alert authorities, and ceilings made of wooden planks instead of metal, which caused the fire to spread quickly.

The report's authenticity could not be immediately verified. Mine operator Soma Komur yesterday vehemently denied any negligence.
"We have all worked very hard. I have not seen such an incident in 20 years," said general director Akin Celik.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been the focus of mounting anger for his response, starting with an apparent attempt to downplay the incident by comparing it to mining disasters from 19th century Britain.
There was further outrage on social media after a video emerged of him shouting an anti-Israel slur at a crowd of angry protesters -- and apparently hitting one of them.
"Why are you running away, Israeli spawn?" Erdogan is heard yelling at a protester in the footage, which surfaced after one of his advisers was photographed kicking a grieving demonstrator.
Erdogan's popularity - particularly among poorer, rural communities - has proved largely impervious both to waves of anti-government protests last year and recent allegations of high-level corruption, with his Islamic-rooted Justice and Development Party (AKP) winning a landslide victory in local elections in March.

But the response to the mining disaster may shock even his more loyal supporters, analysts say.