Details are scarce, but media reports have cited local governor Ahmad Talebian Moqadam in an interview with Iran’s official IRNA news agency.

“We managed to get five bodies out last night and three bodies were taken out today,”Agence France-Presse quoted Maqadam as saying Tuesday.

“[A] tunnel in the mine collapsed, which led to accumulation of gas after which there was an explosion.”

It is believed four workers died within hours of the blast as a result of the shaft collapse, while another four died later from suffocation.

Iran’s Mehr news agency said it was the second lethal blast at the North Ridge coal mine and an investigation was underway.