Death toll after explosion at Iran coal mine rises to at least 38

Tehran: Rescuers on Monday recovered the bodies of more workers killed in an explosion at a coal mine in eastern Iran, bringing the death toll in the disaster to at least 38, officials said. Another 14 miners are still believed to be trapped below ground. The blast struck the coal mine in Tabas, about 540 km (335 miles) southeast of the capital, Tehran, on Saturday night. On Sunday, weeping miners stood alongside mine cars that brought up the bodies of their colleagues, covered in coal dust.

The state-run IRNA news agency on Monday reported the new death toll from the blast, as well as the number of missing. Survivors interviewed by Iranian state television, still smudged in coal dust, described chaotic scenes after the blast.

“We were in the mine, working. Suddenly there was some smoke rising...then I noticed I had difficulty breathing,” said one miner who was not identified by state TV. “I jumped off from the workshop and I scrambled until I reached somewhere (safe). My friends (remained) in there.”