Seventeen people were killed in a gas explosion in a coal mine in Balikesir province of northwest Turkey on Tuesday, the semi-official Anatolia news agency reported.

Injured coal mine workers receive treatment at a hospital near Dursunbey town of Balikesir province, Turkey, Feb. 23, 2010. Seventeen people were killed in a gas explosion in a coal mine in Balikesir province of northwest Turkey on Tuesday. [Xinhua/Anatolia News Agency]

Balikesir Governor Yilmaz Arslan was quoted as saying that 11 miners and an engineer died when a methane gas explosion ripped through the coal mine near Dursunbey town of Balikesir province.

"Five miners lost their lives after being taken to hospital with severe burns, bringing the death toll to 17," said Arslan.

"All bodies were recovered from the mine. We called off search- and-rescue efforts. I offer my deepest condolences to those who lost their beloved ones," he added.

In December, 19 workers were killed when a coal mine in northwest Bursa province caved in after the workers set off some dynamite.