ALBAWABA - Due to a methane leak, an explosion in a coal mine in eastern Iran claimed the lives of at least 30 people and injured 17 others, in addition to another 24 miners believed to be trapped inside the facility, state media reported.
UPDATE
Local authorities confirmed that the death toll has spiked to 51 people.
Following the incident late Saturday, authorities dispatched emergency workers to the neighborhood, according to reports. Approximately 70 mine workers were working there at the time of the explosion. State television later reported that 24 people were believed to be trapped inside.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian stated that a thorough investigation would be launched into the incident and that "decisive action should be taken against any potential culprits involved in this incident,".
President Masoud Pezeshkian expressed condolences to the victims’ families. "I spoke with ministers and we will do our best to follow up," Pezeshkian said in televised comments.
Mohammad Javad Qenaat, the provincial governor, informed state television that 30 miners were killed and 17 injured.
Iran's new reformist President Masoud Pezeshkian, who is about to visit to New York for the United Nations General Assembly, has ordered that all attempts be made to rescue those trapped and assist their relatives. He also stated that an inquiry into the event had commenced.
This is not the first disaster to hit Iran's mining industry. In 2013, eleven miners were killed in two separate accidents. In 2009, twenty workers lost their lives in a series of accidents. In 2017, a coal mine explosion killed at least 42 people, AP reported.
