QUETTA: Three coal mine workers, including two brothers, lost their lives on Saturday after inhaling poisonous gas while working deep inside a coal mine in the Duki coalfield.

Officials said the three miners were operating 800 feet below the ground when lethal methane gas accumulated in the mine. The miners tried to get out of the mine but were unsuccessful, resulting in them losing consciousness.

The mine directorate’s rescue team, along with the local administration, rushed to the site and commenced a rescue operation. The team entered the mine through alternative points, only to find all the three miners, including two brothers, dead. The bodies were shifted to the district hospital.

They were identified as Niamatullah, Hamdullah and Abdul Manan. The bodies were then handed over to their heirs. The mine was sealed by Abdul Ghani, Chief Inspector of Mines, Balochistan, last year after an incident which claimed multiple lives.

“The mine owner had started mining illegally,” Mr Ghani said, adding that the mine was again sealed and a probe into the incident was ordered.

Published in Dawn, January 21st, 2024