Death of 52 miners, the most tragic incident in the Tabas mine

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

Mohammad Ali Akhandi, the director general of crisis management at the South Khorasan Governorate, announced the tragic incident that occurred at the Tabas mine. He said: "Unfortunately, a tragic incident occurred at 9 p.m. on Saturday due to the sudden release of methane gas in one of the tunnels of the Maandjoo coal mine, which caused an explosion."

In 2017, an explosion occurred in the Yurt mine, killing 44 workers, and in 2010, the San Jose mine collapsed, killing 33 miners, making it the "largest mining disaster."

Now, the tragic incident that occurred at the Tabas coal mine at the beginning of autumn, killing 52 people and injuring 24, can be given the title of "the most tragic mining accident in the world." Unfortunately, after the explosion in the aforementioned mine, the presence of the rescue team at the site took a little longer, and the governor of Tabas, while referring to the latest relief situation in the Tabas mine, said: "All rescue forces are working in Block C without interruption, but we have not yet been able to access the prisoners."

According to Mohammad Ali Akhandi, 69 workers were working in Blocks C and B of the mine at the time of the accident. The explosion in the mine was not a fire or severe destruction of the walls, but rather the release of methane gas in the tunnels caused the workers in the mine to suffocate.

He added in his statement: "Given 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 was carried out by eight specialized teams of 5 people, with a total of 40 people in the form of specialized teams providing rescue in the Tabas mine."

Following this tragic incident, the Friday prayer leader and the governor of South Khorasan expressed their condolences to the grieving families of those who died in this incident. The people of South Khorasan and the people of Tabas city declared a three-day period of public mourning in South Khorasan province starting Monday, October 2nd.

Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni also responded to the incident by saying, "Gas buildup caused an explosion in the Tabas coal mine, and we must go there as soon as possible and follow up on the matter." He left for Tabas to investigate the incident.

"Seyed Mohammad Atabak, Minister of Industry, Mines and Trade, while offering condolences to the bereaved families of the incident, stated in this regard: "The work of the private company that is in charge of this coal mine is under review. In the current circumstances, a full expert group needs to investigate this incident." He added in his speech: "Before making any comments, experts should examine how this incident occurred and the issues that caused the explosion in the Tabas Mining Company's coal mine and express their opinion."

He continued: "The safety of this mine will also be examined by the Ministry of Labor, Cooperatives and Social Welfare, and we will present and inform the public with a complete expert report. Now the main issue is the evacuation and handling of the Tabas mine accident, which must be done, and the expert report will definitely be prepared in coordination with the Ministry of Labor and all stakeholders."