11 bodies retrieved from Sanjidi coal mine

QUETTA: Excavation has been completed up to a depth of 4,100 feet to access the miners trapped in the coal mine in Sanjidi, after which 11 bodies have been recovered.

According to the Mining Department, in the Sanjidi coal mine accident in the mountainous area near Quetta, 11 bodies of miners have been retrieved. The rescue operation is still going on to retrieve the last trapped miner from the affected coal mine.

The 10 deceased miners are from the Shangla district, and one is from Swat.

It should be mentioned that on Thursday, around 4:00pm, the coal mine collapsed following a gas explosion, resulting in 12 miners being trapped.

According to PDMA officials, the operation to rescue the trapped miners in the Sanjidi coal mine in the Marwar area has been going on for 66 hours with the help of heavy machinery and local miners.

Officials have expressed the hope that the operation will be completed today, with teams from PDMA, Mines Department and local miners participating in the effort.

Meanwhile, the funeral prayers of 6 miners who lost their lives in the coal mine accident have been offered with Dr Ibadullah Khan, the Leader of the Opposition in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly, also participating.

According to a statement from PDMA, Dr Ibadullah Khan was briefed on the rescue operation. One miner is still trapped in the mine, and PDMA assured that the operation would continue until the last miner was rescued.

After the funeral prayers in Sanjidi, the bodies were sent to Shangla. According to the spokesperson for the Pakistan Central Mine Federation, two brothers are among the miners who lost their lives in the accident. Ten of the miners are from the Shangla district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The spokesperson further stated that the bodies of 9 miners from Shangla have been retrieved, while one is still being searched. Among the deceased, one miner is from Mach, Balochistan, and the other is from Swat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The bodies of four miners, including two brothers, were sent to Shangla.

Meanwhile, two miners died when a coal mine collapsed in the Khost area of Harnai.

According to Pir Muhammad Kakar, the General Secretary of Pakistan United Workers Federation, six miners were trapped in the mine, and four were rescued alive. However, the remaining two miners could not be saved.

The bodies of Asad and Zareen were recovered and sent to their native areas. Just a day before, a miner named Muhammad Ramzan from Qila Saifullah was killed when a landslide occurred at a coal mine in Duki. In total, the number of miners who have died in accidents in Balochistan over the past three days has risen to 15.