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A Turkish mining company defended its safety record Friday and senior Turkish officials denied allegations of lax government oversight four days after at least 284 people died in a coal mine explosion and fire, The Associated Press reported.

Eighteen miners still remain missing, the country's energy minister said, tamping down earlier fears that more than 100 victims were still in the mine.

Turkey's worst mining disaster has set off a raft of protests and public outrage at allegedly poor safety conditions at Turkish coal mines, widespread corruption and what some perceived as government indifference. "It's not an accident, it's murder," read one banner held by workers who marched through the streets of Istanbul on Thursday.

The public anger has stirred up new hostility toward Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government, which had been already sharply criticized for last summer's bloody crackdown on protesters in Istanbul's Taksim Square and this year's crackdown on social media.

The owner of the mine where the disaster occurred, Alp Gurkan, said he had spent his own money improving standards at the mine in the western town of Soma.

"I am hurting inside," he said at a news conference.

Gurkan said he hoped to continue operations at the Soma mine after correcting any problems found by investigators.

Responding to the outcry, Energy Minister Taner Yildiz said Friday that anyone found to have been negligent about safety at the mine can expect punishment.

"If they are at fault, no tolerance will be shown regardless of whether they are from the public or private sector," he said.