Coal mine explosion in Iran’s Damghan city kills 6 miners

A deathly explosion claimed the lives of six workers after it struck a coal mine on Sunday and their bodies were recovered by Monday morning as the rescue mission had been unsuccessful in its early hours, Iranian media reported on Monday.

According to the official IRNA news agency, the explosion tore through a tunnel in the northern city of Damghan at a depth of 400 metres (440 yards), however, it was not immediately known what triggered the explosion.

“Six miners were trapped underground on Sunday when the coal mine explosion took place in Damghan,” IRNA reported.

Soon after the blast erupted, efforts to rescue the miners proved unsuccessful but the bodies were recovered Monday morning, it added.

IRNA showed footage of other workers at the site trying to recover the remains of their colleagues’ bodies from under the rubble, according to AFP.

Read more: 11 killed in deadly explosion at coal mine in China’s Shaanxi province

However, it is not the first time Iran has witnessed a coal mine explosion.

Previously, in May 2021, two miners were killed after the same coal mine collapsed, as Iranian media had reported at the time, which highlights safety concerns of working in a mine.

Additionally, in 2017, Azad Shahr city in northern Iran witnessed the death of 43 miners after a coal mine blast, triggering anger toward Iranian authorities.