Iran coal mine tragedy highlights prevalent corruption, workers' plight
Reactions from pundits, activists and ordinary Iranians focused in large part on how corruption and mismanagement has grown over the years, with companies and oversight bodies increasingly ignoring the safety of workers who were digging "for a loaf of bread."
TEHRAN — Iranian authorities confirmed on Tuesday that all 49 people hit by a coal mine blast in the country's north-east were dead, the state-affiliated Tasnim News Agency reported.
The tragedy occurred in the early hours of Sunday near the city of Tabas, in the Khorasan Jonoubi province, which is home to several of Iran's major mine exploration projects.
The official announcement on the death toll indicated that more than two days of rescue operations had failed to save any of those trapped due to an inability to access what was below the rubble. The explosion was caused by a massive leak of methane gas.
Iranian authorities, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, President Masoud Pezeshkian and Judiciary Chief Gholam-Hossein Mohseni Ejei, all issued messages of condolences to the families of the victims. Ordering probes into the tragedy, they called for those responsible to be brought to justice and stressed the need for measures to prevent this from happening again.
