Explosion at Iran coal mine Dozens trapped

At least two miners have been killed and as many as 50 are trapped after a large explosion in northern Iran.

Rescue vehicles raced to the coal mine near Azadshahr, Golestan Province, with officials blaming a build up of gas for the blast.

Iranian state media reported that the explosion may have been triggered when workers at the Zemetsanyurt mine tried to jump start a locomotive engine.

Sadeq Ali Moghadam, head of Golestan provincial emergency management department, said that 40 to 50 people are thought to be trapped inside the mine, IRNA news agency reported.

The explosion is understood to have taken place as workers were changing their shifts at the mine.

Images from the scene showed apparently dazed miners, covered in coal dust, being helped clear by onlookers.

More than 500 people are employed at the mine, which is nine miles from Azadshahr, close to the Caspian Sea and the border with Turkmenistan.