Daily Times

The death toll of miners, who were trapped in a coalmine for nearly two days, rose to nine after a worker succumbed to his injuries in Civil Hospital Quetta on Tuesday.

Earlier, rescue workers had managed to recover two miners as well as the bodies of eight others who had been trapped in a coalmine in Degari area for nearly 48 hours.

Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) Director General Imran Khan Zarkoon confirmed that only two miners could be rescued in the search operation, which had now concluded. Both workers were admitted to the Civil Hospital Quetta in a life-threatening situation. Another had been rescued on Monday.

Eleven miners in total got trapped in the mine on Sunday after poisonous gas accumulated in the mine, which is thousands of feet deep. Balochistan Chief Minister Jam Kamal Alyani had taken notice of the matter and directed the PDMA to deploy its technical team and ensure the safe recovery of the workers, provincial government spokesperson Liaquat Shahwani had told a private news channel. Balochistan’s Labour Federation expressed dissatisfaction with the government’s efforts. Peer Muhammad Kakar, a member of the body, said, “Neither the government nor the mine owners are bothered about the plight of the hapless miners. The administration is still clueless about the trapped miners even though 24 hours have passed [since the workers were trapped].”

Poor working conditions inside coalmines in Balochistan claim the lives of miners on an almost daily basis in Harnai, Sowrange, Dukki, Mach and other parts of the province, but often go unreported.