QUETTA: A blast at a coal mine at the outskirts of Quetta, killed at leasteight workers, officials said on Monday.
The mine caved in after the miners used dynamite during an excavation inSinjidi, some 45 kilometres (28 miles) east of Quetta, the capital of oiland gas rich Balochistan province.
“There were up to 22 workers present in different tunnels in the mine, someof them were as deep as 4,000 feet (1,219 metres), when the blastoccurred,” provincial chief mines inspector Muhammad Iftikhar told AFP.
Nine workers who were in the upper tunnels were pulled to safety, he said,but rescue teams later found the dead bodies of eight miners at the depthof 800 feet (240 metres).
He said rescue teams were still working to find the remaining five miners,but do not expect to find them alive.
Provincial secretary for mines Saleh Muhammad Baloch has confirmed theincident and the number of casualties.
He said that while the use of dynamite in the mines is officiallyprohibited, “the miners often use this explosive to quickly excavate.”
Coal mines in the impoverished province are notorious for poor safetystandards.
In a similar incident, at least 43 miners were killed in Sorange districtof Balochistan in 2011.
Rich in mineral wealth, Balochistan is plagued by Islamist and separatistinsurgencies.
Hundreds of people have died in the province in violence since 2004.