DEVELOPING HISTORYDEVELOPING HISTORY,
Dozens of miners are believed to be trapped after one of the deadliest mining explosions in recent years.
An explosion at a mine in eastern Iran has killed at least 51 people and injured 20, Iranian state television reported, adding that many workers feared they were trapped.
The explosion occurred due to a methane gas leak at a coal mine run by the Madanjoo company in Tabas, about 540 km southeast of the capital Tehran, the IRNA news agency reported on Sunday.
At least 69 people were working in one of the mine’s tunnels when the sudden gas leak occurred Saturday night, the report said.
State television had earlier reported that dozens of workers were apparently trapped inside, while 17 others had been sent to hospital for treatment.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, who was preparing to travel to New York for the United Nations General Assembly, said he had ordered all efforts to be made to rescue those stranded and help their families. He added that an investigation had been opened into the incident.
This is not the first disaster to hit Iran’s mining industry. In 2017, a coal mine explosion killed at least 42 people. In 2013, 11 workers were killed in two separate mining incidents. At least 20 workers were killed in multiple incidents in 2009.
Lack of safety standards and inadequate emergency services in mining areas are often blamed as the cause of deaths.
