Quetta coal mine blast leaves five miners dead, five others injured

QUETTA, : A powerful explosion in a coal mine at Saragarhi area in the outskirts of Quetta left five miners dead and five others injured, it was reported on Saturday.

Balochistan’s Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) has stated that three injured miners have been shifted to the Trauma Centre.

“An inquiry to find the cause of the explosion inside the coal mine has been underway,” DG PDMA said.

According to sources at the Inspectorate of Mines, accumulation of methane gas can likely to be led to an explosion.

Balochistan is rich in minerals but its mines have a poor safety record.

Six labourers were died and two others were rescued from a coal mine that caved in March last year.

The incident took place in Marwarah where the coal mine caved in, trapping eight labourers.

Sixteen miners were killed and nine others were injured in May, 2018 when a coal mine collapsed due to a gas explosion near Quetta, officials said.

Back in 2011, at least 43 workers were killed when gas explosions triggered a collapse in a coal mine in Balochistan.