A blast brought on by a fuel leak at an Iranian coal mine has killed at the least 51 folks, state media stated Sunday, in one of many nation’s deadliest work accidents in years.
“The variety of lifeless staff elevated to 51” within the explosion on the Tabas mine in japanese Iran, the official IRNA information company reported, revising an earlier demise toll of 30.
It added that 20 different folks had been injured.
The explosion occurred at round 9:00 pm (1730 GMT) on Saturday, when round 70 staff had been current on the web site in South Khorasan province, IRNA stated.
In response to the report, a leak of methane fuel led to the blast in two blocks of the mine, which is owned by personal Iranian agency Madanjoo.
State TV broadcast footage of ambulances and helicopters arriving at Tabas to move the injured to hospital.
On-line footage carried by IRNA confirmed our bodies of a number of the victims, carrying their work uniform, carried out of the location on mining carts.
South Khorasan governor Javad Ghenaat advised state TV that rescue groups had been working to get well the remaining our bodies.
Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian, in remarks carried state TV earlier than departing for the UN Common Meeting in New York, provided his condolences to the households of the victims and ordered a probe into the lethal incident.
“Sadly, we realized that an accident occurred in one of many coal mines in Tabas and quite a few our compatriots misplaced their lives. I provide my condolences to their revered households,” Pezeshkian stated.
His first vice chairman, Mohammad Reza Aref, spoke with cupboard members to make sure “emergency follow-up” and help for the victims and their households, IRNA stated.
– Trapped –
Iran’s Pink Crescent stated search and rescue operations had been underway within the mine, the place some staff remained trapped.
In response to IRNA, they had been about 250 metres (820 ft) beneath the floor, reduce off from rescuers by chambers that had stuffed up with concentrated methane fuel.
“Gasoline accumulation within the mine” has made the search operations tough, native prosecutor Ali Nesaei was quoted by IRNA as saying.
“At the moment, the precedence is to offer help to the injured and pull folks from underneath the rubble,” Nesaei stated.
He added that “the negligence and fault of the related brokers might be handled” in a while.
Final yr, an explosion at a coal mine within the northern metropolis of Damghan killed six folks, additionally probably the results of methane leak in response to native media.
In Could 2021, two miners died in a collapse on the similar web site, native media reported on the time.
A blast in 2017 killed 43 miners in Azad Shahr metropolis in northern Iran, triggering anger towards Iranian authorities.
Mineral-rich Iran has round 1.5 billion tons of confirmed coal reserves, in response to state media.
The Tabas mine covers an space of greater than 30,000 sq. kilometres (practically 11,600 sq. miles) and holds mass reserves of coking and thermal coal, in response to IRNA.
It’s “thought-about the richest and largest coal space in Iran,” IRNA stated.