Rescue operation for trapped colliers under way

The rescue operation to recover the colliers trapped in a coal mine in Balochistan’s Dukki district entered the fifth day on Monday.

The people of the area have been making hectic efforts to ensure their safe recovery.

“Scores of coal miners and rescue workers are trying to recover them,” Syed Saboor Agha, the district police officer (DPO), said.

At least two coal miners were trapped in the coal mine in the Dukki area after it suddenly filled with rainwater.

"The PDMA (Provincial Disaster Management Authority) should provide rescue workers," Muhammad Usman, one of the coal miners engaged in the rescue operation, said.

He said the people present on the spot were not properly equipped to recover the trapped colliers.

“Hundreds of coal miners from nearby mines have come to help them.”

So far, he said, not a single trained rescue worker of the PDMA had reached the spot.

"The PDMA has failed to deploy rescue workers on time," Nazar Muhammad, another coal miner, lamented.

He said it was the responsibility of the PDMA to dispatch trained rescue workers.

“Family members of the trapped coal miners have been suffering as they are extremely concerned about the lives of their loved ones.”

There are hundreds of coal mines in the Dukki area. So far, the Balochistan Mines Department has not been able to ensure the implementation of the mines act across the province.

Hazardous working conditions inside these coal mines have claimed scores of precious human lives.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 9^th, 2023.