TIL Desk/World/Tehran/ Iranian news agencies are quoting provincial officials as saying that 21 miners died in a coal mine explosion earlier in the day in the country’s north. The explosion hit a coal mine in the province of Golestan today, trapping dozens of miners.
After nightfall, Iran’s official news agency said bodies of 21 miners had been found. The report quoted Sadegh Ali Moghadam, the provincial director general of disaster management, as warning of the “possibility of the death toll rising.”
Moghadam said about 35 people are now thought to have been trapped inside the mine. the main tunnel of the mine is now open and that rescue teams are continuing their search.
A large explosion struck a coal mine in northern Iran on Wednesday, trapping dozens of miners and killing at least two, state media reported. Ambulances, helicopters and other rescue vehicles raced to the scene in Iran’s northern Golestan province as authorities worked to determine the scale of the emergency.