One killed, two injured in mine collapse in Iran’s North Khorasan

One person was killed and two others were hurt when a mine collapsed in Esfarayen in Iran’s North Khorasan province on Monday, according to Iranian Students’ News Agency.

The incident took place in the Alblagh mine in Esfarayen district at about 12:46 a.m. local time, said Hossein Rostami, acting head of the North Khorasan Red Crescent Society. Three people were involved in the incident, two of whom were hurt and one of whom was trapped under debris.

Rescue teams from the Abbasabad base and an Esfarayen debris response unit were sent to the scene after the collapse. Emergency workers and firefighters were conducting rescue and debris-removal operations, officials said.

The two injured people were given first aid before being taken to medical centres by Red Crescent and emergency-service teams, Rostami said. Firefighters eventually pulled the trapped person out from under the rubble, but they died in the incident.

The body of the victim was recovered and handed over to the relevant authorities, and that concluded the rescue operation, Rostami said.

The cause of the collapse was not immediately given. The incident comes less than two years after a major coal mine disaster in Iran’s South Khorasan province killed dozens of workers in a methane gas explosion.