Iran coal mine explosion kills 35: state media
An explosion in a coal mine in northern Iran on Wednesday killed at least 35 workers and injured scores, Reuters reports, citing the Iranian state media.
The source notes that the blast occurred at 12:45 p.m. local time (0815 GMT) in the Zemestanyurt mine when workers tried to jump-start a locomotive.
Ali Rabiei, minister of cooperatives, labor and social welfare was quoted as saying by semi-official Tasnim news agency that 35 miners have died in the incident.
Iranian media said more than 30 of the injured were transferred to nearby hospitals.
The semi-official Fars news agency reported earlier that more than 50 workers were trapped in a two-kilometre-long tunnel filled with gas that hampered rescue efforts.
Large-scale rescue operations are underway at the scene with the participation of the units of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps and cynologists with specially trained dogs, as reported by TASS.
The Russian source notes that according to the preliminary findings, the blast was caused by the accumulated methane gas in the mine.