Pakistan: At least 18 dead in twin coal mine accidents

A mine in Marwar area near provincial capital Quetta collapsed due to gas explosion and about two dozen miners were trapped inside.

Pakistani miners gather outside the collapsed mine in Marwaarh area, 45 kilometres (28 miles) east of Quetta, the capital of oil and gas-rich Balochistan province on May 5, 2018. Sixteen miners were killed and nine others were wounded when a coal mine collapsed due to a gas explosion in southwestern Pakistan, officials said. / AFP PHOTO / STR

Islamabad: Two coal mines collapsed in Pakistan's southwestern Baluchistan province on Saturday, killing at least 18 people and injuring six others, officials said. A mine in Marwar area near provincial capital Quetta collapsed due to gas explosion and about two dozen miners were trapped inside. Deputy Commissioner Quetta Farrukh Atique told PTI that that 16 people have died in the collapse. "We have recovered all the 16 bodies from the rubble caused by the collapse in the coal mine," Atique said. "We have also rescued six workers who are trapped in the rubble and have sent them to hospital for treatment but one miner is still trapped under the rubble" he said. Rescue officials said a dozen of the dead miners belonged to Shangla district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. "The collapse apparently took place because of a gas explosion and the miners working at that time were trapped inside. Some died on the spot while others who were badly injured breathed their last under the rubble," Atique said. Chief of Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) Muhammad Tariq also confirmed that 16 miners had been killed. "So far 16 dead bodies and six injured miners have been recovered from the mine," he said. In another incident, at least nine miners were trapped in a mine of Pakistan Mineral Development Corporation (PMDC) near Quetta, an official said. He said the rescue workers recovered two dead bodies and two injured miners, while efforts were on to recover another five workers who remain trapped. Mining is considered highly dangerous in Pakistan where dozens of miners die each year due to lack of modern mining facilities, training and equipment. According to the Pakistan Central Mines Labour Federation (PCMLF), about 100 to 200 labourers die on average in coal mine accidents every year. Last month, at least 11 miners died in two separate mining incidents in Darra Adam Khel area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Jhelum district of Punjab.