Pakistan: Gas explosion in coal pit leaves two dead and eight people afraid
Eight more people are thought to be dead after two corpses were removed from a collapsed mine in southern Pakistan on Wednesday, according to rescuers.
Ten individuals were trapped around 800 feet (244 meters) below earth after a gas explosion shook the private coal mine in the mining district of Khost, 80 kilometers (50 miles) east of Quetta, on Tuesday night.
The top mine inspector for the province of Balochistan, Ghani Baloch, told AFP that “two dead bodies were recovered by the rescue teams overnight.”
“Our rescue team members are doing everything in their power to recover the remaining workers, but we fear they may not be alive.”
Eight others who were trying to save their comrades also became stuck for a few hours until a government rescue crew rescued them, several of them unconscious.
Teams from the disaster management agency and the government’s mining department are on the scene as rescuers.
An accumulation of carbon monoxide gas and an explosion were the incident’s causes. The mine collapsed as a consequence, Baloch told AFP.
Pakistani mines are infamous for their dangerous working conditions and inadequate safety regulations, which often result in fatal occurrences.
