At least 35 workers were killed and scores injured on Wednesday in a gas explosion in a coal mine in Azadshahr, northeast Iran, Reuters reported citing state media.
The blast occurred at 12:45 p.m. local time in the Zemestanyurt mine. At least 35 fatalities were reported and more than 30 injured people were sent to nearby hospitals.
A regional official in Golestan Province told the semi-official Tasnim news agency 21 bodies of workers have been taken out of the mine and 69 injured so far.
Coal miners and rescue workers gather at the scene following an explosion in a coal mine in northern Iran, leaving dozens of miners trapped on May 3, 2017. / AFP Photo
President Hassan Rouhani has sent Ali Rabii, Iran's minister of labour and social welfare, to the mine in order to oversee the rescue operations and treatment of victims, state news agency IRNA reported.
State media said 32 trapped miners are still missing. The rescue operation was going slowly as the tunnels were filled with poisonous gases.
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