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PAKISTAN-MINE-ACCIDENT
At least 8 killed in Pakistan mine blast
QUETTA, Pakistan, Aug 13, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – A blast at a coal mine has
killed at least eight workers on the outskirts of Pakistan’s southwestern
city of Quetta, officials said on Monday, with five more feared dead.
The mine caved in after the miners used dynamite during an excavation in
Sinjidi, some 45 kilometres (28 miles) east of Quetta, the capital of oil and
gas rich Balochistan province.
“There were up to 22 workers present in different tunnels in the mine, some
who were as deep as 4,000 feet (1,219 metres) when the blast occurred,”
provincial chief mines inspector Muhammad Iftikhar told AFP.
Nine workers who were in the upper tunnels were pulled to safety, he said,
but rescue teams later found the dead bodies of eight miners at the depth of
800 feet (240 metres).
He said rescue teams were still working to find the remaining five miners,
but do not expect to find them alive.
Provincial secretary for mines Saleh Muhammad Baloch confirmed the incident
and casualties.
He said that while the use of dynamite in the mines is officially
prohibited, “the miners often use this explosive to quickly excavate.”
Coal mines in the impoverished province are notorious for poor safety
standards.
In a similar incident, at least 43 miners were killed in Sorange district
of Balochistan in 2011.
Rich in mineral wealth, Balochistan is plagued by Islamist and separatist
insurgencies.
Hundreds of people have died in the violence since 2004.
BSS/AFP/MRI/1442 hrs