QUETTA: For a third-consecutive day, the bodies of seven miners killed inside a coal mine in Balochistan's Dukki area could not be retrieved.

Eight miners had died on Thursday after poisonous gas accumulated inside a coal mine in the Loralai district, Rasheed Abro, the Inspector Mines told Dawn.

“Miners from nearby coal mines rescued 13 coworkers...One of them died in a nearby basic health unit, which was poorly equipped. The remaining 12 unconscious miners were being treated in Dukki,” Abro added.

A five-member rescue team had reached Dukki on Saturday to retrieve the bodies.

“The miners were working 2,200 feet deep inside the coal mine,” a senior district officer in Loralai district told Dawn.

"Poisonous gas and landsliding caused the death of the miners," he said.

The officer revealed that the coal mine was owned by an influential person in the area and lamented that possibility of action against the owner was unlikely.

Television footage showed helpless miners huddled around the coal mine, while waiting for the recovery of their colleagues dead bodies.

"We can only pray," Zareef Khan, an awaiting coal miner told Dawn via telephone from Dukki.

Balochistan Governor, Muhammad Khan Achakzai and Chief Secretary, Saifullah Chatha only took notice of the tragedy three days after it occurred.

According to an official handout, the two high-up’s directed the Secretary Mines and Mineral Department to submit a report with regard to the incident.

"Safety conditions are bleak for miners in Dukki," the senior district officer said.

Dukki is one of the resource-rich areas of Balochistan, which has rich coal reservoirs.

However, safety conditions for miners remained poor in coal mines. Such incidents are very common in the area.