Bodies are taken from a coal mine in western Turkey after an explosion and fire killed at least 151 miners and trapped hundreds more.

The explosion happened during a change of shifts so it is uncertain how many people remain inside but Energy Minister Taner Yildiz said the mine normally contained 787 workers.

He said that 151 miners had lost their lives but that many were still trapped in the mine.

The explosion is thought to have been caused by an electrical fault.

The fault also cut power and made elevators unusable stranding hundreds of miners some two kilometeres underground.

The death toll is expected to rise in the country's worst mining accident in over two decades.