Four miners died in the Lakhra coal mine in Jamshoro district on Wednesday, as a rope tied to the elevator carrying them broke.
"The lift broke and plummeted 200 feet down in Mine-29 in the Lakhra coal mine area," Jamshoro deputy commissioner (DC) Fariddudin Mustafa told The Express Tribune.
According to him, the lift was carrying four mine workers.
While the incident took place at 2pm, the rescue operation reportedly did not begin until an hour later. The workers’ bodies were only retrieved from the mine, which is around 400 feet deep, after over four hours.
The deceased miners were identified as Akhtar Zameen Pathan, 30, Taj Muhammad Pathan, 35, Dilawar Pathan, 40 and Sameeur Rehman, 44.
All the deceased belonged to Swat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and were temporarily staying in Jamshoro for work.
The mines had been reportedly using outdated machinery.
The mining licence was initially given to a company to supply coal only for the Lakhra coal power plant in Jamshoro. However, private contractors, with support of local politicians, began to mine coal to sell it in the open market against the licencing agreement.
Labourers working in the company have demanded the registration of an FIR against the company's management.
DC Mustafa, meanwhile, said an inquiry had been ordered to probe the cause of the incident.
Coal Mines SHO Qurban Sanjrani stated that the mine in question was leased to Jahandad Khoso. He added that the bodies of the deceased workers would be taken to their hometown for burial after completion of medico-legal formalities.
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