Suleyman Soylu reported that 58 miners had been saved, 11 had been hurt, and one was missing.
At the time of the incident on Friday, around 110 individuals were inside the mine, with over half of them at a depth of more than 300m (984ft).
To try to find survivors, rescue teams had been excavating through rock all night.
At the mine in Amasra, on the Black Sea coast, rescuers could be seen arriving with blackened and sleep-deprived miners.
Additionally, there were relatives and friends of the missing at the mine, awaiting word on their loved ones.
According to the energy minister present at the scene, the extensive rescue effort is nearing completion with the finding of the most recent bodies.
Mr. Soylu, the interior minister, said to reporters: “We have tallied a total of 40 deceased. 58 miners were able to be rescued, either alone or with the help of rescuers.”
On Twitter, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that the judicial authorities would look into the mine, which is in the province of Bartin.
The blast’s unknown cause is currently the subject of an inquiry by the local prosecutor’s office.
It is thought to have happened at a depth of about 300 metres. According to Mr. Soylu, 49 individuals were working in the “risky” area between 300 and 350 metres down at the time.
Initial signs pointed to firedamp, or methane generating an explosive mixture in coal mines, as the source of the explosion, according to energy minister Fatih Donmez.
He added that there were no active flames and that ventilation was operating as it should have been and that there were partial collapses inside the mine. Recai Cakir, the mayor of Amasra, claimed that many of the survivors had sustained “severe injuries.”
We don’t know exactly what happened, but there was dust and smoke, according to one worker who made it out on his own.
State-owned Turkish Hard Coal Enterprises is the owner of the mine.
301 persons perished in Turkey’s deadliest coal mining accident in 2014 after an explosion in the western town of Soma.
