QUETTA – Rescue teams have recovered the bodies of 34 miners from a coal mine near Quetta after an explosion trapped dozens of workers underground, officials said.
The explosion occurred at a coal mine in the Suranj area on the outskirts of Quetta, where multiple miners became trapped. Rescue operations remain underway as teams continue efforts to reach other workers believed to be inside the mine.
Balochistan’s Provincial Minister for Mines and Minerals, Shoaib Nosherwani, said rescue personnel are continuing the operation despite extremely difficult conditions and that all available resources are being used to reach the remaining trapped workers.
Expressing condolences to the families of the victims, Nosherwani announced that the provincial government would provide compensation of 500,000 Pakistani rupees to the family of each miner who died and 300,000 rupees to each injured worker.
He also said a full investigation would be conducted to determine the cause of the incident.
Earlier, the owner of the coal mine said the explosion was caused by methane gas. According to the owner, 42 workers were inside the mine at the time of the blast, and all of the trapped miners are from Shangla district in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
Rescue efforts are continuing as authorities work to reach the remaining workers.
