At least 19 dead in methane leak triggering explosion at coal mine in eastern Iran, state TV reports

TEHRAN, Iran — A methane leak triggered an explosion at a coal mine in eastern Iran, killing at least 19 people and injuring 17 others, Iranian state television reported Sunday.

According to the report, the deaths occurred in a coal mine in Tabas, about 540 kilometers southeast of the capital, Tehran.

Authorities sent emergency personnel to the scene after the explosion on Saturday night. About 70 people were working at the scene at the time of the blast.

Iran, an oil producer, is also rich in minerals. The country consumes about 3.5 million tons of coal a year, but extracts only 1.8 million tons from its mines. The rest is imported, often consumed by the country’s steel mills.

This is not the first disaster to hit Iran’s mining industry. In 2013, 11 workers were killed in two separate mining accidents. In 2009, 20 workers were killed in multiple incidents. In 2017, an explosion in a coal mine killed at least 42 people.

Lack of safety standards and inadequate emergency services in mining areas are often blamed as the cause of deaths.