Coal Mine Blast in Iran Kills at Least 23 and Traps Dozens
By THOMAS ERDBRINKMAY 3, 2017
TEHRAN — An apparent explosion of methane gas collapsed a coal mine in northern Iran on Wednesday,
and the Iranian news media said at least 23 miners were killed and dozens were wounded and trapped.
News accounts initially said two miners were killed
and about 90 miners were believed to be trapped in the collapse at the Zemestan-Yurt mine near the town of Azadshahr in Golestan Province.
The news site Khabar Online posted images that showed rescue workers trying to help the wounded, and a local judicial official said
that sniffer dogs and rescue teams were being sent to the area.
Khabar reported that one group of miners had been trapped more than a mile underground and
that the accumulation of gas in the affected area was complicating the effort to reach them.
"We are trying to save all trapped miners," the official, Pir Hossein Koulivand, told the Fars news agency.
A group of 32 men was still believed trapped much deeper inside the mine, state television reported.