12 miners killed in coal mine explosion in Pakistan

Karachi: At least 12 miners were killed and eight others rescued when a coal mine caved in following a powerful gas explosion in Pakistan's Balochistan province, officials said on Wednesday, in the latest accident to hit the resource-rich province in recent months.

The incident happened in the Zardalo area of Harnai district, the Dawn newspaper reported.

Twenty miners were inside the mine when a methane gas explosion took place overnight, the report quoted Balochistan Chief Inspector of Mines Abdul Ghani Baloch as saying.

The rescue operation was completed on Wednesday morning. The rescue teams recovered 12 bodies while the eight survivors have been taken to hospital, he said.

While two bodies were recovered during the night, the remaining 10 were retrieved early in the morning, Baloch said.

Abdullah Shahwani, the province’s director general of mining, also confirmed the death toll, the Dawn report said.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed profound sorrow and grief over the loss of lives in the accident.

According to Radio Pakistan, the prime minister directed that all possible medical treatment be provided to the injured miners.

Terming such incidents as “very painful and sad”, he said the government would provide all possible relief to the injured and affected families.

Balochistan province contributes 50 per cent of Pakistan's coal production. However, mine accidents, which are caused mainly due to gas build-ups, are common in Pakistan. Mine workers have been complaining that a lack of safety gear and poor working conditions are the main reasons for frequent accidents.

In December last year, two coal miners were killed and three others injured when a fire broke out in a private mine in Balochistan’s Duki coal field. In September, three workers were buried under the debris of a coal mine in Sindh’s Jamshoro when a mine caved in. In February of the same year, three miners were killed and four others injured in two coal-mine accidents in Duki and Sharag coal fields.

In 2022, six miners were killed in a gas explosion inside a coal mine in Harnai district.