On September 21, 2024 an explosion ripped through the Tabas Parvadeh 5 coal mine in eastern Iran. According to Iranian officials, the incident occurred in the South Khorasan province, about 335 miles southeast of Tehran.
As of Sunday, the privately-owned Mandanjoo Co. mine had confirmed at least 51 deaths, with 14 miners still trapped underground. Rescue efforts are ongoing, but authorities fear the death toll may increase. There were reported to be 69 men at work at the time of the explosion.
The explosion happened late Saturday night, just as a new shift of workers entered the mine. Survivors described chaotic scenes as gas suddenly filled the mine. “We were in the mine, working. Suddenly there was some smoke rising … then I noticed I had difficulty breathing,” one miner told Iranian state television. “I jumped off from the workshop, and I scrambled until I reached somewhere (safe). My friends (remained) in there.”
The blast appears to have been caused by a sudden leak of methane gas, a common but deadly danger in coal mining. According to officials, gas checks performed earlier that night had not indicated any issues before the explosion.
Emergency teams rushed to the site, attempting to save as many lives as possible. Images from the scene showed rescuers pulling soot-covered bodies from the entrance of the mine while others worked frantically to reach the depths where more miners remained trapped. Mohammad-Ali Akhondi, the head of the provincial crisis management team, described the difficulty in reaching the trapped miners. He said that some men were working as deep as 2,300 feet underground, further complicating rescue efforts.
Investigators have stated that the workers likely died from gas inhalation before the explosion, as bodies recovered so far show no signs of blast injuries. This information has raised questions about the safety protocols at the mine, with some noting that modern safety measures, such as proper ventilation systems, should have prevented the disaster. It is unclear what safety procedures were in place at the Tabas Parvadeh 5 mine, though officials have pledged to investigate.
President Masoud Pezeshkian, who was preparing to address the United Nations General Assembly, publicly expressed his condolences to the families of the miners who lost their lives in the disaster. Pezeshkian also emphasized his commitment to supporting the affected families, stating that he had spoken with ministers and assured them that every effort would be made to follow up. In addition, he ordered an immediate investigation into the cause of the explosion and called for a comprehensive review of mining safety standards throughout the country.
The Iranian mining industry has a long history of fatal accidents, often attributed to poor safety standards and inadequate emergency response measures. A significant incident in 2017 resulted in the deaths of 43 miners in Azad Shahr city, which led to widespread anger and protests against the government’s handling of mine safety. Despite these protests, little seems to have improved, as multiple incidents have occurred. In 2021, two miners died in a collapse at a mine in Damghan, and last year, an explosion at the same site killed six workers, likely due to a methane leak. These incidents and others over the past decade highlight the ongoing safety issues within the sector.
Iran consumes around 3.5 million tons of coal annually, yet it only extracts about half that amount from its mines. The rest is imported to fuel industries, particularly steel production. The coal-rich region around Tabas provides the bulk of the country’s coal supply, and the area is home to multiple mining operations. South Khorasan’s governor, Ali Akbar Rahimi, emphasized the region’s importance to Iran’s energy sector, stating that “76% of the country’s coal is provided from this region.”