QUETTA, July 12: Six workers, three of them Afghan nationals, suffocated in two coalmines in the Mach and Aab-i-Gum areas of Bolan district, some 70 kms east of here, on Thursday.

According to sources, seven workers were digging coal in the two mines. They fell unconscious after inhaling some poisonous gas. The other workers inside the mines immediately informed the officials concerned. Rescue teams rushed to the mines. They managed to take the workers out of the mines and took them to a local hospital.

A doctor on duty said six of the miners had died, while the life of the seventh could be saved. Those killed have been identified as Mohammad Ali, Sadiq Ali, Jan Ali, Abdullah, Behroz and Mohammad.

The chief inspector of mines, Malik Abdul Aziz, said: “Poisonous gases like hydrogen sulphide and carbon dioxide had accumulated in both the mines causing the death of the miners.” He said that both the mines had been closed. Provincial Secretary Maqbool Ahmed has ordered an inquiry into the incident.

Meanwhile, thousands of miners are still stranded in coalmine areas of Bolan, Chagai, Harnai and Quetta districts as roads damaged by heavy rains and floods are yet to be repaired. Floodwaters entered the mines destroying machinery and equipment, bringing mining to a halt.

The president of the Pakistan Mine Owners Association, Mir Mohammad Ibrahim Baloch, said at a press conference here on Thursday that roads linking the mining areas of Marwar with those in Bolan and Chagai districts had been completely washed away, making it impossible to send food and water for the stranded mine workers.