(CNN) A gas explosion left 35 coal miners dead Wednesday in northeastern Iran, according to the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency. Officials told IRNA and the semiofficial Fars news agency that 21 bodies had been recovered. Earlier Wednesday, officials blamed accumulated methane gas for the blast in the province of Golestan. Dozens of miners were trapped in one section of the mine, while dozens more were trapped in another section, said Pir-Hossein Kolivand, head of Iran's Emergency Center. Ambulances and rescue teams were dispatched to the scene near the city of Azadshahr.

Source: CNN May 03, 2017 14:58 UTC