Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur announced on Saturday that 10 residents from his province were among the 12 miners who lost their lives when a coal mine collapsed in the Sanjidi area of Balochistan.
The incident occurred on Thursday following a methane gas explosion, which led to the collapse of the mine and trapped 12 miners inside.
Rescue teams from the Balochistan Department of Minerals and the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) recovered the bodies of four miners on Friday after hours of efforts.
In a statement released on Saturday, Chief Minister Gandapur expressed his condolences, stating that 10 of the deceased miners were from the Shangla district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. “We share the grief of the mourning families,” he added.
Balochistan’s Chief Mines Inspector, Abdul Ghani, informed on Friday that the workers were extracting coal at a depth of 4,000 feet when the explosion occurred. The explosion caused the entire mine to collapse.
He further mentioned that the Department of Minerals would conduct a full investigation to determine the safety measures taken by the mine owners.
Balochistan’s mines, which are under the control of private companies through lease agreements with the government, are notorious for hazardous working conditions and poor safety standards, making fatal accidents all too common.
According to the Balochistan Department of Minerals, 46 mining accidents occurred last year, claiming the lives of 82 miners.
Balochistan is rich in coal reserves, with large deposits in areas like Mach, Hernai, and Chamalang. However, the use of outdated mining methods has contributed to frequent accidents in the region.
Last March, a gas explosion in a coal mine in the Khost area of Hernai killed 12 workers.
In 2021, three major accidents in Marwar, Hernai, and other areas of Balochistan led to the deaths of 22 workers.
Similarly, in 2020, more than 100 miners lost their lives in such accidents, with 52 of those fatalities occurring in Duki district.
