At least 30 people have died and 17 others injured in an explosion at a coal mine in the eastern Iranian province of South Khorasan, the semi-official Fars news agency reported Sunday.

The blast occurred at the mine belonging to the Madanjoo Company in Tabas County at about 21:00 local time (1730 GMT) on Saturday due to a rise in the amount of methane gas in one of the tunnels, Fars quoted Mohammad-Ali Akhoundi, director general of the provincial crisis management headquarters, as saying in an address to reporters on Sunday morning.

He said that at the time of the explosion, 69 miners were working at the scene.

Earlier on Sunday, Akhoundi said 40 equipped teams were providing rescue services, putting the number of the rescuers at 100. Two ambulance buses and 13 ambulances were present.

Iranian Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni, in a phone call with South Khorasan's Governor Javad Ghenaat, ordered him to mobilize all provincial facilities and resources to accelerate rescue and relief operations, the official news agency IRNA reported.

Elias Hazrati, head of the Iranian government's Information Council, said President Masoud Pezeshkian has issued a special directive to handle the incident, ordering relevant ministers to take necessary measures. 

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