QUETTA: Three coal miners were killed and two others were injured as result of a blast in a coal mine in the Dukki area of Balochistan on Wednesday.

The miners were engaged in the mine to extract coal 1,000 feet below the ground when the blast occurred.

"All the bodies have been retrieved from the mine," Abdul Khaliq, a police inspector who reached the mine after the incident told DawnNews.

The injured were rushed to a nearby health unit for medical treatment.

However, there was no qualified doctor nor medicines available at the health unit, Baz Muhammad, a coal miner told DawnNews.

Footprints: Pitch-black lives

The dead miners were identified as Wali Muhammad, Muhammad Ashraf and Nazar Shah.

"Nobody asks the owners about our safety," Muhammad lamented while describing the incident, which claimed the lives of his three colleagues.

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

While miners across the globe work in hazardous conditions, the predicament of mine workers in this country is particularly acute. Mine safety in Pakistan is very poor and several deaths are reported every year. Workers use obsolete equipment and there are hardly any safety protocols in place.

Such incidents are very common in the area.

Black hole: The punishing lives of Balochistan's coal miners