QUETTA: Three miners were killed and four others injured in two separate incidents in the Chamalang coal mines range in Duki district on Thursday.

Officials said the first incident took place near the Akram Board area of Chamalang where three workers were killed following a gas explosion inside a mine.

“The blast occurred when the miners were digging coal deep inside the mine,” an official of the Duki district administration said. He identified the deceased as Mohammad Baseer, Mohammad Dawood and Rahmatullah. All the three men were Afghan nationals.

“Their bodies were completely burned as fire erupted in the mine after the blast,” he said.

Three miners who went inside the mine to rescue their colleagues fell unconscious due to the presence of poisonous methane gas. Rescue workers rushed to the site and shifted them to a hospital.

The bodies were recovered four hours after the explosion and later sent to Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, in another incident four workers were injured due to a landslide inside a mine in the Chepati area of Chamalang. They were taken to a local hospital.

Published in Dawn, December 28th, 2018