Four killed, five injured in coal mine explosion in Pakistan

Islamabad: Four miners were killed and five others injured following a gas explosion at a coal mine in Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan province, official sources said.

The incident occurred on Sunday following the accumulation of gas inside a coal mine in Harnai district, the sources told Xinhua.

Rescue teams from the Pakistan Army rushed to the site following the explosion and recovered the bodies of the four miners, while rescuing five injured miners, the sources added.

The injured miners were shifted to the provincial capital of Quetta for further medical treatment, according to the sources.

Earlier in August, three coal miners, including two Afghan nationals, died after they inhaled poisonous methane gas while working in a coal mine in Duki district of Pakistan's Balochistan province, according to officials, local media reported.

The incident occurred as methane gas accumulated in a coal mine while miners were working inside it. The miners lost consciousness after they inhaled the poisonous gas. Other workers immediately informed the authorities and local miners, and officials from the Mines and Minerals Department initiated a rescue operation, Pakistan-based daily Dawn reported.

Rescuers found the three miners inside the mine, but they had already died. The deceased were identified as two Afghan nationals and a Pakistani national, Dawn reported.

Earlier in July, a total of 34 people died in a methane gas explosion at a coal mine in the Sorange area of Balochistan, according to the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA).

Bodies of 34 miners were recovered after the explosion as methane gas accumulated in the mine. A large section of the mine collapsed following the blast, resulting in miners remaining trapped under the rubble, Pakistan's another daily The Express Tribune reported. The officials said that 41 miners were in the mine when the incident took place.

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