2 more Shangla miners die in coal mine collapse

ALPURI: Two miners died when a coalmine collapsed in Akhorwal area of Darra Adamkhel on Wednesday.

According to reports, Muhammad Ali and Nawaz Khan were working in a coalmine in Akhorwal area of Darra Adamkhel when it collapsed all of a sudden, burying them alive.As a result, Nawaz Khan died on the spot while Muhammad Ali later succumbed to his injuries at a hospital in Peshawar.

The bodies of both miners ahd been dispatched to their native towns in Shangla.This is the third such incident of the year 2024 in which five colliers had died and six others had injured in coalmines collapse and explosions in quarries.

In the previous incident, two miners had died and four others had sustained injuries in separate incidents of coalmines blast and collapse in various areas in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on the first day of the new year.

The first incident had occurred in Darra Adamkhel where a collier identified as Sajjad Ali, a resident of Banjar in Shangla, had died in an explosion caused by gas accumulation inside a coalmine.

Four other miners named Zahid Jan, Sajjad Ahmad, Farid Khan and Hazrat Ali had sustained injuries in the explosion.Similarly, a miner named Baroz Khan, a resident of Pagorai in Shangla, had lost his life when the coalmine in Torghar area in Kurram tribal district had collapsed.

According to data, over 54 incidents of coalmine collapse and explosion occurred in which 70 miners from Shangla district have died and over 125 injured in 2023.Hundreds of families from Shangla district have become victims of coalmine incidents all over the country, most of which result from official apathy and lack of safety measures by mine owners.

Owing to the rough terrain, scarce employment opportunities and lack of basic civic facilities, the residents have no other choice but to look for jobs as mine workers all over the country to eke out a living.