Rescue efforts continue on the third day in which 18 workers remain trapped in a flooded mine in the central Turkish province of Karaman.

Rescue efforts continue on the third day in which 18 workers remain trapped in a flooded mine in the central Turkish province of Karaman.

"Mine accidents are hurting us a lot. We hope to reach the trapped miners as soon as possible, our prayers are with them," Turkey's EU Minister Volkan Bozkir said in a press conference on Thursday.

Search-and-rescue teams have deployed a sophisticated “octopus system” to pump out water from a flooded mine in central Turkey’s Karaman province to save 18 trapped miners, Turkey’s main disaster management authority said Wednesday.

The miners got trapped Tuesday when a water pipe inside a private lignite mine exploded near the Ermenek town in Karaman province, around 400 kilometers south of Ankara. Earlier reports suggested there were at least 40 miners trapped inside, but latest figures reveal there were in total 34 miners, out of whom 18 remain stuck.

Turkey's Prime Ministry Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency, or AFAD, said the “octopus” system can pump out 8,500 liters of water in a minute. Moreover, it has the capacity to draw water from a depth of 60 meters.

The addition of the “octopus” is now expected to change the pace of rescue mission.

The disaster management authority had said earlier that a 225-person team was on site for the search-and-rescue mission.

"Two aircraft, 20 ambulances and eight AFAD rescue vehicles continue their search-and-rescue efforts. One mobile base station has been set up at the scene and adequate food packets have also been delivered," it said Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu also reached the accident site Wednesday evening to monitor the situation.

The incident in Karaman mine comes just five-and-a-half months after an explosion at a coal mine in Soma, Manisa, western Turkey, caused the worst mine disaster in the country’s history, killing 301 miners.