Operation to rescue trapped miner continues in K-P

Khyber Top coal mine caved in Monday morning


Umer Farooq October 16, 2018
Workers unload coal from a supply truck at a yard. PHOTO: REUTERS

PESHAWAR: A rescue operation to save a trapped coal miner continued on Tuesday in the Akhurwal area of Darra Adam Khel.

Another Darra Adam Khel coal mine caves in

The Khyber Top mine caved in on Monday morning with seven miners inside, Kohat District Administration told The Express Tribune. It added that six miners managed to escape when the mine collapsed.

The administration said rescue operation was being carried our by at least 300 people including political administration, Director Mineral Fata Development Authority (FDA), levies and army personnel. It said the coal sliding inside was making the rescue difficult.

The mining, reportedly, was illegal. “Most of the mines are registered with the mines and minerals department but coal is being extracted from many unregistered mines as well,” a resident of Akhurwal told The Express Tribune.

The report was dismissed by district administration officers who asserted that mining was legal but the company was not following protocol shared by the FDA.

Dangerous business: Five miners die in two different coal-mine accidents

This is the third such incident in the past week as five miners died in two different coal mine incidents in Darra Adam Khel and district Nowshera.

The first incident took place at a mine in Zarghun Khel area of Darra Adam Khal, where miners were busy extracting coal when a gas explosion occurred inside the mine. Despite the availability of ventilation system in mines, sometimes the mines fill with methane and when it comes into contact with heat, mostly sparks during extracting coal, an explosion occurs.

In a similar incident, two miners died after a coal mine caved in within the jurisdiction of Pabbi Police Station the same day, where according to SHO Muhammad Hanif, the incident took place in Jabba Khushk area of the district.

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