Turkish police detained 19 people, including mining company executives and personnel, as an investigation into last week’s mine disaster got underway and the last of the 301 victims were buried yesterday.

The detentions were the first of the inquiry and came five days after a fire sent deadly carbon monoxide coursing through the mine in the western Turkish town of Soma, causing the county’s worst ever industrial accident.

The disaster has sparked protests across Turkey, directed at mine owners accused of ignoring safety for profit and at Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan’s government, seen as too close to industry bosses and insensitive in its response.

Police formed a cordon around the court house in Soma as the crowd of onlookers, journalists and relatives of those detained grew steadily. Inside, prosecutors were questioning company employees, a police official said.

One woman said her engineer husband was among those detained inside and one man, whose engineer brother was being held, said dozens of people had been questioned as part of the probe. Both declined to be named.

“We know that we have lost 301 loved ones, but we have loved ones inside as well,” the man said.

The governor of Manisa province, Abdurrahman Savas, said 19 people were being held, according to media reports, which said they were detained on suspicion of neglect and “causing multiple deaths”.

Detentions are the first of the inquiry into last week’s mine disaster

The general manager of the mining company, Soma Madencilik, and the plant manager were among those held, broadcaster CNN Turk said, adding that 28 prosecutors had been appointed to the investigation.

A spokeswoman for the company said she did not have information on the detentions. A police official confirmed that people had been detained and were being questioned but provided no further details.

The rescue operation at the coal mine ended on Saturday after the bodies of the last two workers were carried out.

They were buried yesterday. Mourners cried and prayed beside a line of recently filled graves as one of them was buried in Soma.

Holding their palms open to the sky, around a thousand people said “amen” in unison as a white-bearded imam, or Muslim prayer leader, finished reciting verses.

“My only wish and battle will be to make sure Soma is not forgotten,” said a written note, signed “your brother”, which was left on one grave along with some flowers.

Ramazan, a worker from a mine near the one where the accident occurred, was among those paying his respects.

“My friend lost half of his family. And for what? To make a living,” he said. “Accidents can happen of course, but it’s an accident when one person, two people die. When 300 people die, its not an accident anymore.”

Erdogan has presided over a decade of rapid economic growth but workplace safety standards have failed to keep pace, leaving Turkey with one of the world’s worst industrial accident records. The plant manager has denied negligence at the mine which was inspected by state officials every six months.