QUETTA: A coalminer died and five others were missing after a mine collapsed in Marwar on Thursday.

According to the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA), eight miners were busy with their work in a mine 800 feet deep when all of a sudden a portion of it caved in, leaving the miners trapped.

Rescue teams from the Directorate of Mines and the PDMA rushed to the place and started an operation for tracing the miners.

“The teams found one body and rescued two miners alive. They were admitted to Quetta’s Civil Hospital,” an official of the directorate said.

Their condition was said to be stable.

Rescue teams were making frantic efforts to find the five missing miners.

“Our workers have reached as deep as 700 feet inside the mine,” an official said. But methane gas inside the mine was creating hurdles for the rescuers, he added.

The dead coalminer was identified as Muhammad Rahim, a resident of Muslim Bagh, in Qila Saifullah district.

Published in Dawn, March 12th, 2021