Golestan Governorate: The number of victims in the Yurt mine has reached 42

The Deputy Governor of Golestan stated that the bodies of seven more miners have been found in the Yurt mine, bringing the total number of fatalities to 42. Reza Moratti, the Deputy for Urban Development Coordination in Golestan, told Mehr News Agency on the evening of May 18 that currently, 35 miners' bodies have been retrieved from the tunnel, with "13 bodies still in the Gorgan morgue, and the identification process has not yet been completed." The bodies of 21 victims have been handed over to their families. Prior to Mr. Moratti's statements, rescue officials working to retrieve the deceased from the Yurt mine tunnel reported finding a total of 35 bodies early on Tuesday morning, a figure that matched previous reports from rescue officials regarding the death toll. Ismail Najjar, head of the Crisis Management Organization, stated that 35 workers were trapped in the tunnel following the Yurt incident. However, early Tuesday, news agencies quoted a senior crisis management official in Golestan as saying, "The search operation has not concluded," and the search "for potential bodies is still ongoing." The Director General of Crisis Management in Golestan also mentioned on Tuesday evening that based on the list of missing persons, "there is a possibility of eight more miners being in the tunnel." The Deputy Governor of Golestan informed Mehr News Agency that the Yurt mine has experienced three collapses since the incident and the rescue operations have been prolonged due to this issue. Reports indicate that several miners from other regions of Iran, including Tabas, Mazandaran, and Kerman, have gone to Azadshahr to assist rescuers. The Yurt mine incident occurred on May 2 due to an explosion. Government officials state that investigations into the cause or causes of the incident are ongoing. In recent days, several Iranian miners have protested about their living conditions, contracts, and the lack of safety equipment and tools. The Yurt mine has five active tunnels for extracting "coke coal" and one tunnel ready for operation, with an annual extraction capacity of 100,000 tons. Last year, Iran extracted approximately 1.7 million tons of coal, indicating an increase in extraction compared to the previous year. The majority of the extracted coal in Iran is consumed domestically.