Dozens dead after explosion at coal mine in Iran, with more workers left trapped inside
by Kit Heren · LBCBy Kit Heren
Dozens of people have been killed after an explosion at a coal mine in Iran.
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At least 30 were killed in the coal mine in Tabas, in the east of the country, with dozens of others injured or trapped.
Authorities were sending emergency personnel to the area - 335 miles south-east of the capital, Tehran - after the blast late on Saturday, it said. About 70 people had been working there at the time of the explosion.
Iran's new president Masoud Pezeshkian said he ordered all efforts be made to rescue those trapped and aid their families.
He also said an investigation into the incident had begun.
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Oil-producing Iran is also rich in a variety of minerals. The country annually consumes some 3.5 million tons of coal but only extracts about 1.8 million tons from its mines per year.
The rest is imported, often consumed in the country's steel mills.
This is not the first disaster to strike Iran's mining industry.
What happens to Iran now?
In 2013, 11 workers were killed in two separate mining incidents.
In 2009, 20 workers were killed in several incidents. In 2017, a coal mine explosion killed at least 42 people.
Lax safety standards and inadequate emergency services in mining areas are often blamed for the fatalities.