QUETTA: Three workers were rescued from a coal mine in Harnai on Saturday after a 110-hour-long rescue operation.

Six workers were trapped inside the coalmine in the Zarghoon Ghar area on March 22 while working around 1,300 feet deep when a big portion of the mine collapsed due to the methane gas blast. Sources said the gas was accumulated in the mine because of the absence of safety measures.

Three miners were recovered 24 hours after the incident while the rescuers could not reach the other three as the debris had blocked the way. Amid fears that the miners might have lost their lives due to suffocation, rescuers continued their efforts to reach them.

“The rescue teams succeeded in rescuing three trapped miners from the mine. All the three are alive and healthy,” Harnai Deputy Commissioner Sardar Rafique Tareen said, adding that the workers had been shifted to civil hospital Quetta. “It is a miracle,” he said.

Officials of the Mines Department said the mine had been closed after the incident and an inquiry into the incident was under way. It may be recalled that after every such incident the department ordered a probe but it never released the inquiry report.

Published in Dawn, March 27th, 2022