QUETTA: Six workers were trapped after a methane gas blast inside a coalmine in the Torghar area of Harnai district on Monday.

Sources said that workers were busy digging coal around 1,500 feet deep in the coalmine of a private company when a powerful blast occurred.

“After the blast a part of the mine caved in and a fire broke out,” an official of the Harnai administration told Dawn by phone. He said the blast had been caused by methane gas.

Rescue teams from the mines directorate and the Provincial Disaster Management Authority rushed to the scene of the occurrence and launched a rescue operation. However, according to reports, the fire was creating hurdles for rescuers to carry out their job.

“Rescue teams are trying to reach the trapped workers from another coalmine,” an official said.

On Friday, six coalminers were killed in the Marwar coalfield area of Mach in a simlar accident.

Published in Dawn, March 16th, 2021