Coal mine explosion kills 5 miners and 5 rescued in Sara Ghurgai Quetta
File Photo: Rescue operation underway at Tor Ghar Harnai for recovery of trapped miners: Photo provided by the author

Syed Ali Shah: 

A coal mine explosion has killed 5 coal miners and 5 were rescued in the Sara Ghurga area of Quetta in the wee hours of Saturday. The miners were working deep inside the mine when there was a huge blast. All 10 coal miners were trapped to recover the miners.

Rescue workers shifted five coal mines to the Trauma Center of civil hospital Quetta for medical treatment. “Three coal miners are in critical condition and two are stable”, Waseem Baig, the Spokesman civil hospital Quetta said. Methane gas filled in the mine that caused a powerful blast, the initial investigation suggested.

The incident happened late at night

The incident happened late at night and there was no proper rescue operation to rescue the trapped miners. “Very late, the rescue teams came”, Muhammad Ikram, a coal miner told Quetta Voice via telephone. He said had there been a timely response the lives of miners would have been saved.

However, rescue workers from a private charity group reached the affected mine and launched the operation. The Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) rescue team was late to rescue the trapped miners.

As per the Balochistan Mines Act 1923, coal miners cannot enter mines after sunset

As per the Balochistan Mines Act 1923, coal miners cannot enter mines after sunset. However, mine owners have been violating the act, which always results in the loss of human lives. “These are killer mines”, Peer Muhammad Kakar, the central leader of mines workers association said.

Poor or no safety conditions have claimed thousands of precious human lives for the last more than a decade in Balochistan. Such incidents are the order of the day in Dukki, Harnai, Khost, Mach, Bolan, and other parts of the province, which has rich coal reservoirs.

“We demand a judicial inquiry into this incident”, Peer Muhammad Kakar stated.

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Quetta Voice is an English Daily covering all unfolding political, economic and social issues relating to Balochistan, Pakistan's largest province in terms of area. QV's main focus is on stories related to education, promotion of quality education and publishing reports about out of school children in the province. QV has also a vigilant eye on health, climate change and other key sectors.