THATTA: Bodies of eight coal miners were retrieved from a mine near Jhimpir on Thursday after two days of frantic efforts by rescue teams that used all resources during the search operation.

Rainwater gushed into the mine near the Meting railway station after heavy rains in the hilly terrain of Jhimpir. Nine labourers stranded in the coal mine and bodies of eight of them had been retrieved.

“Rainwater had accumulated by 50- to 60-foot deep,” said an official. “Divers are there too but even they can’t do anything unless dewatering takes place. The mine is 350-ft deep,” he said.

Those died in the unfortunate incident were identified as Sajad Ali, Attaullah, Main Sher, Parvez Muhammad, Abu Bakar, Azeem, Jan Wali, and Gul Chamman. A 12-year-boy is still said to be trapped in the mine for which the search continued till late in the night.

Thatta Deputy Commissioner Ghazanafar Ali Qadri told reporters that all the dead belonged to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Earlier, relatives of the deceased along with members of the civil society staged protests at railway tracks demanding a ban on such mines.

Meanwhile, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah on Thursday ordered the provincial energy department to conduct safety audit of all mines across the province.

He expressed deep sorrow over the death of labourers after the rainwater flooded the coal mines in Jhampir.

The chief minister also expressed sorrow and grave concern over the death of a 12-year-old boy in the mine accident and directed the energy minister to conduct a thorough inquiry into the incident and submit report to him.

The chief minister said that it was the matter of child labour if the victim boy was working in the mine. “I will take strict action on the issue of child labour,” he warned.

The chief minister also ordered for arrangement of compensation to the families of the victims.

Published in Dawn, July 8th, 2022