JOS PLATEAU, Nigeria (AFP)—Thirty-eight lead miners were killed when gas exploded at a pit in central Nigeria’s Plateau state, local sources told AFP.

Twenty-seven others were injured in the blast at the Kampanin Zurak mining site in Plateau state’s Bashar district, the acting traditional ruler told AFP.

“So far 38 people are confirmed dead and about 27 others have been rushed to hospital,” said the leader, Alhaji Aliyu Adamu Idris.

Ibrahim Dattijo Sani, a miner at a nearby pit, told AFP that the victims were below ground in the mine where the explosion struck between 7:30 and 8:00 am (0630 and 0700 GMT).

“We are close to the sites, people were inside the mining pits and suddenly a gas exploded,” Sani said.

“We tried many efforts for rescue but unfortunately 38 people have died… others have been taken to hospital.”

A confidential security report seen by AFP attributed the death of the miners to “carbon monoxide poisoning”.

Kampanin Zurak is an old mining settlement in the Wase district. Idris told AFP that the site of the explosion is operated by Solid Unit Nigeria Limited.

The state is a historical mining region, with its capital Jos known as the Tin City. But mining activities have slowed in recent years.

Several similar accidents have killed miners in Nigeria previously.

At least 18 people were killed in Zamfara state in the northwest after a boulder crashed onto an illegal mine during heavy rains in September.

Authorities in the country have blamed illegal mining for the worsening of bandit violence, with criminal gangs getting money from protection fees they extort from miners.