Four miners were killed and another four are trapped after a mine explosion near the northeastern city of Tabas on Tuesday December 18, Iranian media report.

Reports indicate there is little hope that the trapped miners may still be alive. The Tabas governor reported that the explosion occurred due to a methane gas leak.

He was quoted as saying that rescue operations cannot be carried out since the mine opening is completely blocked.

The head of rescue operations in Tabas told the Mehr News Agency that no entry into the mine has been attempted because another explosion is still possible.

The mine, located 25 kilometres outside Tabas, employs 40 miners, eight of whom were inside the mine at the time of explosion.

The incident comes only a day after the coroner’s office announced that up to this point in the current Iranian year, 1,101 people have been killed in workplace accidents.

ILNA reported that that statistics reveal a 24-percent increase in the number of accidents compared to last year.

ILNA quoted the head of the Esfahan Labour Auditor’s office as saying that of the more than 1,100 workplace accidents that happened in the province last year, employers were at fault for failing to provide a safe workplace in 70 to 75 percent of the cases.

Source: Radio Zamaneh