Deadly gas leak kills five miners in Harnai

QUETTA:

Five miners were killed in a tragic mining accident in Shahrig (Harnai) on Saturday after toxic gas entered a coal mine operated by a private coal company.

The incident occurred when six miners became trapped underground due to the sudden accumulation of toxic gases.

Rescue teams attempted to rescue the trapped miners. They managed to pull one miner, Khan Muhammad, out alive. However, five miners tragically suffocated to death. The victims, all from Afghanistan, were identified as Rehman Shah, Shafaulla, Naseebullah, Zubi Allah and Matiullah.

The bodies were recovered after an intensive rescue operation. The accident has once again highlighted the dangerous conditions faced by miners in Balochistan. In response, the Balochistan chapter of the Pakistan Workers Federation (PWF) 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 2024, at least 12 miners were killed when an explosion caused a coal shaft to collapse in Balochistan's Harnai district, officials and rescue workers said at the time.

The bodies of 10 more miners were recovered from the mine, officials said, bringing the death toll to 12 after the rescue operation was completed.

Chief Inspector of Balochistan Mines Abdul Ghani said the mine was filled with methane gas which caused a massive explosion. The explosion caused the mine to collapse and trapped 20 miners inside.

A rescue operation has been launched to ensure the rescue of the trapped miners, Abdul Ghani said. He said rescuers recovered the bodies of 12 miners and rescued eight of them alive.

The rescued miners were taken to Harnai District Hospital for medical treatment. He had no information about the condition of the eight miners as he was busy shifting the dead bodies to their ancestral places.

“Rescue efforts have been completed with the recovery of all 12 bodies,” Abdul Ghani Baloch, chief mines inspector in Balochistan province, told AFP.

“Two bodies were recovered during the night, the remaining ten in the early morning.”

Abdullah Shahwani, director general of the Balochistan Mines Department, also confirmed the death toll and said: “Initial reports suggest that the incident was caused by methane gas.” At the time, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif issued a statement expressing “deep sadness and regret over the loss of precious lives.”

Initially, it was assumed that only ten miners were involved in the collapse about 80 kilometers east of the city of Quetta.

Rescue workers from the State Mining Authority and the Disaster Management Agency worked through the night to reach them.

A group of eight people trying to rescue their colleagues were also trapped for several hours, but were later rescued – some of them unconscious – by a government rescue team.

Mining in Balochistan poses a major challenge and threat to both the environment and the local population. The province is rich in minerals such as coal, copper, gold and chromite, but the exploitation of these resources is costly.

One of the biggest dangers is the lack of safety regulations and controls in mining, which often leads to accidents, cave-ins and explosions. Miners often work in dangerous conditions without proper safety equipment or training, resulting in numerous deaths each year.