Deadly coal mine blast in Pakistan kills 15, more than two dozen still trapped

Quetta: At least 15 coal miners were killed, while more than two dozen others remain trapped after a methane gas explosion ripped through a coal mine in the Sorange coalfield in Pakistan’s Balochistan province, local media reported on Friday.

According to the officials, 24 miners were working about 4,000 feet underground when the explosion took place at a private coal mine, Pakistan-based daily Dawn reported. A fire erupted in the mine after the explosion, resulting in the collapse of the structure.

Another mine located near the site of the incident was also impacted. As many as 12 miners working in the second mine remained trapped. Chief Inspector of Mines Muhammad Atif said that 36 coal miners were present in the two mines when the incident took place.

Atif said that the Mines and Minerals Department and the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) have initiated a rescue operation, and 21 miners remained missing until Thursday night while the rescue operation continued, Dawn reported.

He stated that the blast was believed to have occurred due to the accumulation of methane gas at a depth of around 4,000 feet, causing a fire and gathering of hazardous gases in the mine.

Earlier in May, two miners were killed and another injured in two separate coal mine incidents in Shangla district of Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

The first incident took place at Mine No 5 of Akhorwal coal mines. The sources revealed that two workers were buried under debris during operations in the mine. Rescue teams, fellow miners and local residents retrieved the trapped workers after carrying out a rescue operation for nearly two and a half hours, Pakistan’s another daily The Express Tribune, reported.

In a separate incident, a miner died while working in a coal mine in Chaparmashti area. Local residents and labour organisations have voiced serious concern over the lack of safety measures in Pakistan’s coal mines and called on the government and authorities to take notice of the issue.

IANS