Posted on 07/07/2025 7:55:19 AM PDT by BenLurkin
Twelve Turkish soldiers have died after being exposed to methane gas while searching a cave in northern Iraq, the Turkish Ministry of National Defence said.
At least 19 personnel were exposed to the gas during the search and clear operation on Sunday, and immediately taken to hospital. By Monday, 12 had died, the ministry said.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he received the news with "great sorrow" and extended his condolences to the soldiers' families and to the Turkish Armed Forces.
Methane gas is not directly toxic, but can be deadly as it can become suffocating, especially in tight, enclosed spaces.
It remains unclear why the cave contained enough methane gas to make it lethal.
A farewell ceremony for some of the soldiers killed was held at an airport in the southern Turkish province of Hakkari on Monday. It was attended by the Turkish defence minister and many high-ranking officials from the armed forces.
The bodies were then transported back to the their home towns.
The soldiers were searching for the body of a soldier who was killed in gunfire in May 2022 during Operation Claw Lock - a military operation led by Turkey against militants from the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in Iraq which included air strikes on caves as well as a ground incursion.
(Excerpt) Read more at freerepublic.com ...
There are stories about what lives in those Northern Iraqi caves. Methane gas... sure. Look into this blinky thing please.
Methane is NASTY stuff. Unlike the gas in your stove - to which an acrid odor is added - you can’t generally smell methane easily, and it cleanly REPLACES the oxygen in your lung alveoli, so you don’t realize you are suffocating, until you black out and it is far too late.
Jeff Bezos’ fart-sniffing spaceship should have detected this deadly menace.
That’s why you need a canary.
Nadler and Pritzker on secret mission?
One of the reasons you never go into a deserted mine without protective and survival gear.
I saw that movie. It has Heather Donahue in it.
Kinda like CO2 which fools your lungs into just not operating.
Cue the campfire scene in Blazing Saddles.
Manticore!!! Yep, I was referring to the Giant of Kandahar. Afghanistan, not Iraq, but pretty much the same thing. Big giant thing who lived in a cave and killed a bunch of US Soldiers.
Methane is a natural underground gas. It also goes by the name “natural gas”. It’s odorless and colorless; the familiar stench is a mercaptan additive.
Birds are very sensitive to air quality ... the literal “canary in a coal mine” was a primitive ... but very effective ... methane gas detector.
Unable to find out why they were searching the cave in the first place.
https://search.brave.com/search?q=Methane+gas+is+not+directly+toxic
Methane Not Toxic
Methane gas is relatively non-toxic and does not have an OSHA PEL standard. Its health effects are associated with being a simple asphyxiant, displacing oxygen in the lungs.
Methane is non-toxic and creates no hazard when inhaled in limited quantities; however, if large quantities of natural gas or methane are allowed to displace air, lack of oxygen may result in suffocation.
Methane is considered relatively non-toxic, but its primary threat is that it functions as an asphyxiant, similar to the threat posed by carbon monoxide exposure.
AI-generated answer. Please verify critical facts.
He who smelt it, dealt it.
BBC: Methane gas kills 12 Turkish soldiers in Iraq operation
Why wouldn’t a sophisticated government operation like this be using handheld Methane gas detectors?
Oops. I haven’t had my second pot of coffee yet this morning
This should work: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cgq7z10lxneo
Thaks after posting I searched for it, and posted why they were searching the cave, as well as, the link. 😁👍
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