MOSCOW (Sputnik) – An explosion went off at Iran’s Zemestanyurt coal mine in the country’s northeastern Golestan Province on Wednesday, trapping at least 90 miners under the rubble, Iranian Emergency Medical Services (EMS) head Pir Hossein Kolivand said.
"There are 50 people trapped under the rubble in the southern part of the mine [and] 40 in the northern part," Kolivand told the Fars news agency.
Kolivand specified that 28 miners were sent to hospitals but did not provide details about the casualties.
Earlier in the day, the IRNA news agency reported that up to 50 people were trapped as result of the blast, citing Golestan provincial emergency management department head Sadeq Ali Moghadam.
Approximately 500 miners work at the Zemestanyurt coal mine.
