Death toll rises to 23 in Quetta mine incidents

QUETTA: At least 23 miners were killed and nine others were rescued after two coalmine collapsed in two separate incidents near Marwar and Sooranj area of Quetta district the other day.

Commissioner Quetta Division Jawaid Anwar Shahwani said the first incident occurred in Marwar, 45 kilometers east of Quetta due to a gas explosion after accumulation of methane gas when the victims were working inside the coalmine.

About 16 mine workers’ dead bodies were pulled out from the coalmine after mine roof collapsed in a gas explosion by local rescue teams, including law enforcement agencies, after hectic efforts under monitoring of provincial officials. Nine workers were rescued at the moment.

The bodies and the injured were rushed to the Bolan Medical Complex (BMC) Hospital where the injured are stated to be in better condition by hospital sources. The nine of them bodies were identified as Reheem, Muhammad Basheer, Abdul Waheed, Khalid, Nasrullah, Abdulla Khan, Abdul Haq, Liaquat Ai and Abdul Latif.

Law enforcement agencies (LEAs) including Frontier Corps, Levies force and police are were trying to pull out other victims from the coalmines. Meanwhile, another coalmine collapsed in the Sooranj area in which seven miners were killed. Two workers were rescued in an unconscious condition, while bodies of two miners were recovered on Saturday night.

The rescue operation continued till Sunday morning in which bodies of five more labourers were found from second damaged coalmine. Most of the victims were reported to be residents of Swat’s Shangla area.

After the incident, the members of mines labour federation protested the deaths of coalminers in Sooranj and Marwar, demanding the provincial government to take strict action against coalminers’ owners in order to prevent such incidents in future outside of the Quetta Press Club on Sunday. They also demanded the government to ensure safety measures for labourers during working inside the coalmines in respective areas of province. The protesters also demanded Rs2 million should be given to the bereaved families of the coalminers.