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of the explosion, said Iranian Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni, who was headed to Tabas.

Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian, in remarks carried state TV before departing for the UN General Assembly in New York, offered his condolences to the families of the victims and ordered a probe into the deadly incident. “Unfortunately, we learned that an accident occurred in one of the coal mines in Tabas and a number of our compatriots lost their lives. I offer my condolences to their respected families,” Pezeshkian said. His first vice president, Mohammad Reza Aref, spoke with cabinet members to ensure “emergency follow-up” and support for the victims and their families, IRNA said.

The authorities have announced three days of public mourning in the eastern province after the deadly blast, according to local media. Iran’s Red Crescent said search and rescue operations were underway in the mine, where some workers remained trapped. According to IRNA, they were about 250 m below the surface, cut off from rescuers by chambers that had filled up with concentrated methane gas.

“Gas accumulation in the mine” has made the search operations difficult, local prosecutor Ali Nesaei was quoted by IRNA as saying. “Currently, the priority is to provide aid to the injured and pull people from under the rubble,” Nesaei said. He added that “the negligence and fault of the relevant agents will be dealt with” later on.

Last year, an explosion at a coal mine in the northern city of Damghan killed six people, also likely the result of methane leak according to local media. In May 2021, two miners died in a collapse at the same site, local media reported at the time. A blast in 2017 killed 43 miners in Azad Shahr city in northern Iran, triggering anger toward Iranian authorities.

Mineral-rich Iran has around 1.5 billion tons of proven coal reserves, according to state media. The Tabas mine covers an area of more than 30,000 sq km and holds mass reserves of coking and thermal coal, according to IRNA. It is “considered the richest and largest coal area in Iran,” IRNA said. – AFP