3 workers still trapped inside Harnai mine

QUETTA:

Rescue workers failed to recover three coal miners still trapped inside a coal mine after an explosion in Balochistan’s Harnai district on Tuesday.

At least six coal miners were trapped inside the coal mine after a methane gas explosion on Tuesday morning.

“After 12 hours, three coal miners are still trapped inside the pit,” Sardar Rafique Tareen, Deputy Commissioner Harnai told The Express Tribune.

He said three coal miners were rescued by fellow miners in the morning but the other three were still trapped.

The rescued coal miners were shifted to district headquarters hospital Harnai for medical treatment.

However, the rescue teams of the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) and Mines and Minerals reached the affected mine after 10 hours.

“Had they come on time, the trapped miners could have been pulled out,” a levies official said. He requested anonymity since he was not authorized to speak to the media.

Hazardous and unsafe working conditions inside coal mines have claimed hundreds of precious human lives in the past few years in Balochistan.

“Government has failed to protect the lives of hapless coal miners,” Peer Muhammad Kakar, the central leader of mines and mineral association Balochistan told The Express Tribune.

He said coal mine owners, contractors and mines, and mineral department were responsible for such kinds of tragic incidents at the mines of the province.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 23^rd, 2022.