Iranian state media said on Sunday that a gas leak from a coal mine in eastern Iran triggered an explosion that has killed at least 51 people.
More than 20 others were injured after the incident Explosion in South Khorasan Province.
It was reportedly caused by a methane gas explosion in two blocks in the Tabas mining area, 540 kilometers (335 miles) southeast of the capital Tehran.
State media said the explosion occurred at 21:00 local time on Saturday (17:30 GMT).
Javad Ghenaatzadeh, the governor of South Khorasan Province, said there were 69 workers in the neighborhood at the time of the explosion.
“There was an explosion and unfortunately there were 69 people working in areas B and C,” he said, according to the Associated Press. Madanjoo mining area.
“There are 22 people in Area C and 47 people in Area B.”
It is unclear how many people are still alive and trapped inside the mine.
State media has now revised its previously announced death toll of 30.
“The number of dead workers has increased to 51 and the number of injured to 20,” the official IRNA news agency reported.
State television earlier on Sunday quoted the head of Iran’s Red Crescent society as saying 24 people were missing.
Reuters reported that Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian expressed his condolences to the families of the victims.
“I spoke with the ministers and we will try to follow up,” Pezeshkian said in televised comments.
The Tabas mine covers more than 30,000 square kilometers (nearly 11,600 square miles) and contains large reserves of coking and thermal coal, according to the Islamic Republic News Agency.
According to the Iranian News Agency, it is “considered to be the richest and largest coal region in Iran.”
State media quoted local prosecutor Ali Nesay as saying that “gas accumulation in the mine” made search and rescue operations difficult.
“Right now, the priority is to provide aid to the injured and rescue people from under the rubble,” Nesay said.
He added that “the negligence and fault of the agents involved will be dealt with later”.
Last year, an explosion at a coal mine in the northern city of Damgan killed six people, possibly caused by a methane leak, according to local media reports.
In May 2021, two miners died in a landslide at the same site, local media reported at the time.
In 2017, an explosion in the northern Iranian city of Azadshahr killed 43 miners, sparking anger against Iranian authorities.
