Pakistan: Three coal miners die after inhaling methane gas in Balochistan

Quetta, Aug 28 (IANS) As many as three coal miners, including two Afghan nationals, died after they inhaled poisonous methane gas while working in a coal mine in Duki district of Pakistan’s Balochistan province, according to officials, local media reported on Friday.

The incident occurred as methane gas accumulated in a coal mine while miners were working inside it. The miners lost consciousness after they inhaled the poisonous gas. Other workers immediately informed the authorities and local miners, and officials from the Mines and Minerals Department initiated a rescue operation, Pakistan-based daily Dawn reported.

Rescuers found the three miners inside the mine, but they had already died. The deceased were identified as two Afghan nationals and a Pakistani national, Dawn reported.

Earlier in July, a total of 34 people died in a methane gas explosion at a coal mine in the Sorange area of Balochistan, according to the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA).

Bodies of 34 miners were recovered after the explosion as methane gas accumulated in the mine. A large section of the mine collapsed following the blast, resulting in miners remaining trapped under the rubble, Pakistan’s another daily The Express Tribune reported. The officials said that 41 miners were in the mine when the incident took place.

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 Akhorwal coal mines, with two workers being buried under debris during operations. Rescue teams, fellow miners and local residents found the trapped workers after carrying out a rescue operation for nearly two and a half hours, The Express Tribune reported.

In a separate incident, a miner had died while working in a coal mine in the 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

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