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Four coal miners burnt to death as result of a methane gas blast inside a coal mine in Balochistan’s Dukki district on Wednesday morning, less than a week after three miners lost their lives in the same area.
The incident occurred in coal-rich Chamalang area of Dukki district.
Dukki’s district police officer, Sardar Hashim Khan, said one coal miner sustained serious injuries as a result of the blast.
Khan said all the victims, two of whom were siblings, belonged to the same family from neighboring Afghanistan. The coal miners on their own retrieved bodies of their colleagues from the mine.
“Miners were extracting coal from thousands feet inside the mine when the tragedy struck,” a levies official said.
Taking notice of the deaths, Balochistan Chief Minister Jam Kamal Khan ordered the concerned quarters to ensure that such incidents do not occur in the future.
Hazardous working conditions inside coal mines of Balochistan have been claiming precious human lives. As per the statistics provided by the provincial Mines and Minerals Development Department, over 1,000 coal miners have died in such kind of incidents during the last 18 years in Balochistan.
Last week, three miners were killed and four others injured in two separate incidents in the Chamalang coal mines range in Dukki district. The victims’ bodies were completely burnt as fire erupted in the mine after the blast.