Death of 52 Miners, the Darkest Incident in Tabas Mine

The darkest incident in Tabas mine resulted in the tragic death of 52 miners.

“Mohammad Ali Akhondi,” director general of crisis management at South Khorasan Province’s governorate, reported on the tragic incident that occurred in Tabas mine. He stated in this regard: “Unfortunately, a tragic incident occurred at 9 PM on Saturday night due to sudden methane gas surge in one of the tunnels of Mojajooe coal mine, which caused an explosion.”

In 1396 (2017), an explosion at the Yort mine resulted in the death of 44 workers, and in 2010, the San Jose mine collapsed, claiming the lives of 33 miners, which was dubbed “the largest mining disaster.” Now the tragic incident that occurred with the onset of autumn in Tabas coal mine, which resulted in 52 deaths and 24 injured, can be labeled the “darkest mining incident in the world.” Unfortunately, after the explosion in the mentioned mine, the presence of rescue teams at the site took longer than expected, and the governor of Tabas, while referring to the latest status of rescue operations at Tabas mine, said: “All rescue teams are working non-stop in Block C, but we have not yet been able to reach the trapped people.”

According to Mohammad Ali Akhondi’s statements, 69 workers were working in Blocks C and B of the mine at the time of the incident. The explosion in the mine was not in the form of fire or severe wall destruction, but rather the surge of methane gas in the tunnels caused suffocation of the workers in the mine.

He added in his remarks: “Considering the concentration of gas in the tunnels, which caused an explosion at a depth of 250 meters vertically and 700 meters diagonally in the mine, rescue operations were carried out by eight specialized teams of 5 members each, with a total of 40 people conducting rescue operations in the form of specialized teams in Tabas mine.”

Following this tragic incident, the Friday prayer leader and governor of South Khorasan Province, while expressing condolences to the bereaved families of those who died in this incident, declared public mourning in South Khorasan Province for three days starting from Monday, September 2nd, for the people of South Khorasan Province and the people of Tabas city.

“Eskandar Momeni,” Minister of Interior, also responded to this incident by saying: “Gas accumulation caused the explosion in Tabas coal mine, and we must go there sooner and follow up on the matter.” He headed to Tabas to investigate the incident.

“Seyyed Mohammad Etabaak,” Minister of Industry, Mining, and Trade, while offering condolences to the families affected by this incident, stated in this regard: “The operations of the private company responsible for this coal mine are under investigation. Under the current circumstances, it is necessary for a complete team of experts to investigate this incident. In his remarks, he added: “Before any statements, experts must investigate how this incident occurred and the issues that caused the explosion in Tabas Mojajooe coal mine and present their opinion.”

He continued: “The safety of this mine will also be investigated by the Ministry of Labor, Cooperation, and Social Welfare, and we will present and publicize a complete expert report to the people. Now the main issue is the evacuation and handling of the Tabas mine incident, which must be done, and the expert report will definitely be prepared in coordination with the Ministry of Labor and all stakeholders.”