Protesters clash with police at Turkey mine blast site Turkish riot police fired tear gas Friday at thousands of protesters at the scene of a disaster that killed nearly 300 miners, as the government faced a worsening political backlash. Police used tear gas, water cannon and plastic bullets to disperse demonstrators chanting anti-government slogans in the western town of Soma, where at least 284 people died in a blast at a coal mine this week. Some protesters hurled stones at the police, according to AFP reporters on the ground. IMAGES