QUETTA: Ten coal miners were rescued on Friday after being trapped for 16 hours in a coal mine filled up with rainwater in the Duki area of Harnai.

Officials said miners were digging at a depth of 2,000 feet when rainfall flooded the mine, leaving them trapped.

Subsequently, a PDMA team of rescuers along with other miners laun­ched an operation to and after night-long efforts they succeeded to rescue all the 10 miners.

Meanwhile, the inquiry committee assigned to probe the methane gas explosion in a Harnai coal mine in which 12 miners were killed, held mine ow­ner and contractor resp­onsible for the incident.

In its initial report, the committee recommended filing of a criminal case against them for their negligence. It also called

Probe committee recommends FIR against mine owner, contractor for Harnai tragedy

On March 19, an explosion of methane gas resulted in the death of 12 miners who were stuck deep inside the mine owned by a local coal company in the Zardalo area of Harnai.

According to the report submitted to the mines secretary, mining had resumed five to six months ago after a prolonged closure of the mine. For the mine’s examination and gas detection, the company hired a manager and overseer. However, both individuals were not present in the mine at the time of the incident.

Published in Dawn, March 30th, 2024