WANA (Sep 22) – A gas leak around 9 PM on Saturday night (September 21) in one of the workshops of the Madanjoo Coal Company in Tabas, Iran, caused an explosion.

 

It is reported that at the time of the explosion, 69 workers were working in Block C and B of this coal mine in Tabas.

 

The incident occurred due to a methane gas explosion in Block 30 of the Madanjoo Company.

 

The explosion did not result in a fire or severe wall collapse, but the accumulation of methane gas in the tunnels caused the workers to suffocate in the coal mine.

 

Following the announcement of the explosion, four rescue teams from the Red Crescent were immediately dispatched to the scene.

 

Given the gas concentration in the tunnels, which caused the explosion at a depth of 250 meters vertically and 700 meters diagonally, the rescue operation is being carried out by eight specialized teams of five members.

 

Currently, 40 specialized team members are involved in the rescue operation at the site of the Tabas mine, where so far, 19 people have lost their lives, and 17 injured workers have been rescued through the efforts of the rescue teams. The death toll may rise.

 

The head of the Government Information Council reported that the President Pezeshkian is closely following up on the explosion incident at the “Madanjoo Tabas” mine. He also stated that the Ministers of Industry, Mine, and Trade, as well as the Minister of Labor and Social Welfare, have been dispatched to Tabas on the President’s orders to investigate the matter.

 

President Pezeshkian, while issuing orders to expedite the investigation into the condition of the injured and the cause of the incident, called for the mobilization of all resources to accelerate the response to the situation at the Tabas coal mine, offer condolences to the families of the victims, and ensure the treatment of the injured.

 

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The Tabas coal basin, with an area of over 30,000 square kilometers and an estimated reserve of 75.2 billion tons of coking and thermal coal, is considered the richest and largest coal basin in Iran.

 

The Parvadeh region, with an area of 1,200 square kilometers and a geological reserve of 1.1 billion tons of coking coal, is one of the four coal regions in Tabas and the largest coking coal basin in Iran.