PESHAWAR: At least five miners were killed and eight others trapped after a gas explosion occurred inside a coalmine in Doli area of Lower Orakzai Agency on Saturday.

Political administration sources told DawnNews that methane gas had accumulated in the mine which caused the explosion.

The sources added that rescue workers had pulled out four miners while efforts are under way to rescue the remaining trapped miners.

Ambulances have been dispatched to the area to shift the injured and dead to hospital.

The labourers hail from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Shangla district.

There are more than 4,000 coalmines in Orakzai tribal agency. Over 3,000 labourers work in these mines.

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.