21 bodies were found, but there are still 14 trapped miners. There is little hope for survival, with rescue operations slowed by harmful gas.
Tehran (AsiaNews / Agencies) - An explosion in a coal mine in Golestan province, northeast of Iran, has left 21 workers dead, their bodies were found at 600 meters in depth.
The incident occurred at 12:45 local time in the Zemestanyurt mine, when some workers tried to start a locomotive. The explosion caused the collapse of a part of the mine.
The Minister of Cooperatives, Employment and Social Security Ali Rabiei estimates 35 victims, while Iranian media account for more than 30 injured transferred to neighboring hospitals.
There are 14 workers still trapped within the mine, inside which there are tunnels over a kilometer long. The miners are locked at the end of one of these.
The presence of harmful gas in the tunnel slows down rescue operations: rescue teams have worked all night, injecting oxygen into the tunnel to "give a chance of survival" to any survivors and prevent a new gas concentration from causing a second explosion.
For the provincial emergency director Sadegh-Ali Moghadam, "the hopes of finding the 14 miners still trapped alive are now minimal."
Red Crescent Director of Hossein Ahmadi province reports that the rescuers managed to get "just 800 meters inside the tunnel, but they themselves lacked oxygen."
There are 500 workers in the mine. At the time of the explosion, the shift was in progress.
President Hassan Rouhani sent the Minister of Labor and Social Security to the mine to supervise the rescue and care of the victims.
Iran has extracted 1.68 million tons of coal in 2016, a number higher than in previous years, thanks to the lifting of international sanctions. Coal is mainly used in domestic steel production and a minimum is exported.