Rescuers have recovered the bodies of 11 coal miners who died in a methane gas explosion and mine collapse in Balochistan, Pakistan.
The collapse occurred in Singidi city last week and efforts are still underway to find a missing worker.
Abdul Ghani, a mines inspector, said two more coal miners were killed on Sunday when another mine collapsed in Harnai, a district in Balochistan.
After three days of rescue operations, 11 bodies were recovered by Saturday night, with rescue workers continuing their search for the final missing worker inside the collapsed mine, according to Abdullah Shawani, head of the province’s mining department.
“There are little chances of the last worker surviving for so long in the collapsed mine,” Mr Shawani said.
“The incident occurred due to a buildup of gas, which caused an explosion and the mine to cave in,” Balochistan government spokesperson Shahid Rind said.
He said that full-scale rescue operations were still underway, but progress was slow due to the presence of toxic gas and debris in the collapsed mine.
Pir Muhammad Kakar, a leader of the miners’ workers association, accused the coal mine owner of failing to enforce mining regulations that could have led to the incident.
He also blamed officials at the mines department for the disaster and called for strict action to be taken against them.
Safety standards are frequently disregarded in Pakistan’s coal mining industry, leading to numerous accidents and explosions each year, with miners often reporting that mine owners fail to install essential safety equipment, according to the Associated Press.
In March last year, a gas explosion at a coalpit in Harnai killed at least 12 miners.
In 2018, the collapse of two neighbouring coal mines in Sanjdi resulted in 23 deaths and 11 injuries, and another disaster in 2011 where 43 workers lost their lives due to gas explosions triggering a collapse in a Balochistan colliery.
Additional reporting by agencies.
