Balochistan unrest: Seven miners kidnapped

Miners worked for United Mineral Company.

QUETTA:

Seven coalmine workers were kidnapped in the Sorange mining fields, some 20 kilometres away from Quetta, on Saturday.

The miners were working for a private coal mine company called United Mineral Company.

They have been identified as Hameedullah, Abdul Hameed, Mohammad Ishaq, Faqir Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Akbar and Khan Mohammad and are residents of Swat and Dir of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

Balochistan Levies has registered an FIR and are searching for the culprits. So far no one has claimed responsibility for the incident. Residents of the area speculate that this may be a case of kidnapping for ransom or some other monetary dispute.

Mine worker killed  

Meanwhile, a miner was killed by a toxic gas leak in a coal mine in Duki, Loralai district on Saturday. Officials said the victim was identified as Mohammad Naseem. He was working for a coalmine owned by a private company when poisonous gas filled the mine causing his death.

Rescue teams rushed to the location soon after the incident. They retrieved Naseem’s body from the mine and moved it to the Civil Hospital.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 8^th, 2012.