Deadly gas leak kills five miners in Harnai

One trapped collier pulled out alive by rescuers

QUETTA:

A tragic coal mine accident in Shahrig, Harnai, claimed the lives of five miners after poisonous gas filled a coal mine operated by a private coal Company on Saturday.

The incident occurred when six miners were trapped underground due to the sudden buildup of toxic gas.

Rescue teams worked to save the trapped miners, managing to pull out one miner, Khan Muhammad, alive. However, five miners tragically died from suffocation. The victims, all from Afghanistan, have been identified as: Rehman Shah, Shafaulla, Naseebullah, Zubi Allah, and Matiullah.

The bodies were retrieved after an intensive rescue operation. The accident has once again highlighted the hazardous conditions faced by coal miners in Balochistan. In response, the Pakistan Workers Federation's (PWF) Balochistan chapter has called for urgent improvements in mine safety protocols and demanded a thorough investigation into the incident, stressing the need for better safety measures to protect workers in the region's coal mines.

In March of 2024, at least 12 miners were killed after a coal pit collapsed following an explosion in Balochistan's Harnai district, officials and rescuers said at the time.

The bodies of ten more miners were pulled from the mine, officials said, bringing the death toll to 12 after the rescue bid ended.

Balochistan Mines Chief Inspector Abdul Ghani said the mine was filled with methane gas that triggered a powerful blast. The explosion caused the collapse of the mine and 20 miners were trapped inside.

A rescue operation was launched to ensure the recovery of the trapped coal miners, Abdul Ghani said. He said that the rescue workers retrieved the bodies of 12 coal miners and 8 were rescued alive.

The rescue coal miners were shifted to the District Headquarters Hospital Harnai for medical treatment. He had no information about the condition of the eight coal miners since he was busy shifting the dead to their ancestral places.

"The rescue effort has concluded with the recovery of all 12 dead bodies," Abdul Ghani Baloch, chief inspector of mines for Balochistan province, told AFP.

"Two bodies were recovered during the night, with the remaining 10 retrieved early in the morning."

Abdullah Shahwani, Balochistan's director general of mining, also confirmed the death toll, and said "Initial reports suggest the incident was caused by methane gas". At the time, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif issued a statement expressing "profound sorrow and grief over the loss of precious lives".

It was initially thought that there were only ten miners involved in the cave-in about 80 kilometres (50 miles) east of Quetta city.

Rescue workers from the government mining department and the disaster management agency toiled through the night to reach them.

A group of eight people who were attempting to rescue their colleagues also became trapped for several hours, but were later brought to safety by a government rescue team -- some of them unconscious.

Mining in Balochistan poses significant challenges and dangers to both the environment and the local population. The province is rich in minerals such as coal, copper, gold, and chromite, yet the exploitation of these resources comes at a high cost.

One of the primary dangers is the lack of safety regulations and oversight in mining operations, leading to frequent accidents, cave-ins, and explosions. Miners often work in hazardous conditions without proper safety gear or training, resulting in numerous fatalities each year.