In a room 50 metres square, trapped two kilometres underground with more than 140 of his colleagues, Emre Alaca had given up hope.

When he began his eight-hour shift on Tuesday morning, he had no idea he would be spending a second eight hours underground struggling for breath and certain he would die.

Mr Alaca was working on extending a new route for coal excavation, which only opened for production last week. When the explosion happened at 3.10pm, he was trapped with fire between him and the exit.

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The first he knew there was a problem was when he smelled the smoke, like burned tyres. There was panic, shouting and confusion.

“There was nowhere to go,” Mr Alaca, 30, said. “If you go one way you get smoke, and the other way was the same.”

The community remain angry. Police used tear gas and water cannon to disperse thousands of protesters who gathered in Soma shouting anti-government slogans, and calling on the government to resign.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling AK party has ordered an investigation, but said there was no problem over supervision of the mine. “We have no inspection and supervision problem,” Huseyin Celik, a deputy leader of the party said.

Mr Alaca’s experience was different. All the miners carry gas masks, but he didn’t reach for his. “I knew they were old and don’t work. We take them with us when we go in, but they’re single-use masks and should be checked every six months, but they’re not.”

Shape Created with Sketch. In pictures: Violent clashes in Turkey erupt after mine explosion kills over 280 Show all 20 left Created with Sketch. right Created with Sketch. Shape Created with Sketch. In pictures: Violent clashes in Turkey erupt after mine explosion kills over 280 1/20 Turkey Protesters run away from tear gas during a protest on Istiklal avenue in Istanbul 2/20 Turkey Riot police disperse protesters with tear gas and rubber bullets during a protest at Istiklal avenue in Istanbul 3/20 Turkey Photographers takes pictures of a man in a wheelchair as Turkish riot police use water cannon to disperse protesters during as they clash during a demonstration in memory of the victims of the Soma mine explosion on Istiklal avenue in Istanbul 4/20 Turkey Protesters stands in front of a Turkish police's water canon in Ankara during a demonstration gathering hundreds after more than 200 people were killed in an explosion at a mine 5/20 Turkey The moment the PM's aide Yusuf Yerkel was allegedly caught kicking a protester Report Turk 6/20 Turkey Turkish riot police use water cannon to disperse protesters as they clash during a demonstration for the victims of the Soma mine explosion in Istanbul 7/20 Turkey Turkish riot police fires water cannon at the protester on a wheelchair in Istanbul 8/20 Turkey Turkey declared three days of mourning as the death toll from the country's worst mining disaster in more than two decades reached 205, with fears that the number could climb much higher 9/20 Turkey Riot police run away from the flames of a fire bomb thrown by protesters in Ankara 10/20 Turkey Riot police detain a protester as he and others demonstrate to blame the ruling AK Party (AKP) government on the mining disaster, in Ankara 11/20 Turkey Riot police disperse protesters with shields and tear gas during a protest in front of the Mineral Research & Exploration (MTA) headquarters in Istanbul 12/20 Turkey Riot police try to stop protesters who were attacking the Soma offices of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Justice and Development Party during his visit to the coal mine in Soma. A violent protest erupted in the Turkish city of Soma, where more than 200 coal miners have died after a mine explosion. Many in the crowd expressed anger at Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government. Rocks were being thrown and some people were shouting that Erdogan was a "Murderer!" and a "Thief!" 13/20 Turkey Protesters attack a police car as they clash during a demonstration for the victims of the Soma mine explosion in Istanbul 14/20 Turkey Protesters try to defend themselves with plant pots 15/20 Turkey Riot police use tear gas against protesters during a demonstration in Ankara 16/20 Turkey Anger grows across Turkey as hopes faded for scores of workers trapped in a collapsed mine, edging it closer to becoming the country's worst-ever industrial disaster 17/20 Turkey The last miner to be rescued alive emerged from the mine in the early hours of the second day of the rescue effort. A fire was said to have been burning inside the mine long into the day and high levels of carbon monoxide have forced rescue teams to halt the operation on a number of occasions 18/20 Turkey Protesters gather on the streets pf Istanbul 19/20 Turkey Protesters face Turkish riot police using tear gas in Ankara 20/20 Turkey Turkish riot policemen arrest a protester in Ankara 1/20 Turkey Protesters run away from tear gas during a protest on Istiklal avenue in Istanbul 2/20 Turkey Riot police disperse protesters with tear gas and rubber bullets during a protest at Istiklal avenue in Istanbul 3/20 Turkey Photographers takes pictures of a man in a wheelchair as Turkish riot police use water cannon to disperse protesters during as they clash during a demonstration in memory of the victims of the Soma mine explosion on Istiklal avenue in Istanbul 4/20 Turkey Protesters stands in front of a Turkish police's water canon in Ankara during a demonstration gathering hundreds after more than 200 people were killed in an explosion at a mine 5/20 Turkey The moment the PM's aide Yusuf Yerkel was allegedly caught kicking a protester Report Turk 6/20 Turkey Turkish riot police use water cannon to disperse protesters as they clash during a demonstration for the victims of the Soma mine explosion in Istanbul 7/20 Turkey Turkish riot police fires water cannon at the protester on a wheelchair in Istanbul 8/20 Turkey Turkey declared three days of mourning as the death toll from the country's worst mining disaster in more than two decades reached 205, with fears that the number could climb much higher 9/20 Turkey Riot police run away from the flames of a fire bomb thrown by protesters in Ankara 10/20 Turkey Riot police detain a protester as he and others demonstrate to blame the ruling AK Party (AKP) government on the mining disaster, in Ankara 11/20 Turkey Riot police disperse protesters with shields and tear gas during a protest in front of the Mineral Research & Exploration (MTA) headquarters in Istanbul 12/20 Turkey Riot police try to stop protesters who were attacking the Soma offices of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Justice and Development Party during his visit to the coal mine in Soma. A violent protest erupted in the Turkish city of Soma, where more than 200 coal miners have died after a mine explosion. Many in the crowd expressed anger at Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government. Rocks were being thrown and some people were shouting that Erdogan was a "Murderer!" and a "Thief!" 13/20 Turkey Protesters attack a police car as they clash during a demonstration for the victims of the Soma mine explosion in Istanbul 14/20 Turkey Protesters try to defend themselves with plant pots 15/20 Turkey Riot police use tear gas against protesters during a demonstration in Ankara 16/20 Turkey Anger grows across Turkey as hopes faded for scores of workers trapped in a collapsed mine, edging it closer to becoming the country's worst-ever industrial disaster 17/20 Turkey The last miner to be rescued alive emerged from the mine in the early hours of the second day of the rescue effort. A fire was said to have been burning inside the mine long into the day and high levels of carbon monoxide have forced rescue teams to halt the operation on a number of occasions 18/20 Turkey Protesters gather on the streets pf Istanbul 19/20 Turkey Protesters face Turkish riot police using tear gas in Ankara 20/20 Turkey Turkish riot policemen arrest a protester in Ankara

Nearby was a machinery room which had clean air thanks to pumps used to power it. The group lasted in the room for two hours before the air became too hard to breathe. Then the men adopted a technique, known among the older miners.

“There was an engineer with us,” Emre said, “he told us to bite the iron structures. If you hold your nose and bite the iron, it delivers oxygen to the brain.”

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The men stood for hour after hour fighting sleep. Closing your eyes and relaxing meant death so the engineer kept encouraging the men to stay awake and to stay alive. Some prayed, some shouted, but most were silent.

“There were so many people, we were shoulder to shoulder,” Mr Alaca said. Out of the 144 colleagues trapped with him, he says six were rescued alive.

Among the rescuers looking for him was his childhood friend Sefa Köken. “I cried when I heard. I was so happy I could go and tell his family the good news,” he said.

Both are convinced there are hundreds more miners to be found and accuse the government of lying.

“The numbers just don’t add up,” said Mr Köken. “There are at least 200 men still down there and they are probably under water.”

As we talk, Mr Alaca’s phone rings and he receives news he’s been waiting for. Two more bodies have been recovered. His friends.

Approximately 1,500 men are employed in the pits here. It’s the primary source of income for men in the area and many survivors say they have to go back for the money.

For Mr Alaca, though, it’s unthinkable. “I just had to step on bodies to get out of the mine,” he said. “How can I go back in?”