Death toll from coal mine accidents climbs to 23

QUETTA: At least 23 labourers were killed and several others suffered injuries when two coal mines caved in near Quetta on Saturday.

A coal mine in Marwar area of Balochistan, which is located 45 kilometres east of Quetta, collapsed due to an explosion caused by the accumulation of methane gas, killing 16 workers while injuring nine others.

The roof of the mine caved in following the explosion triggered by the accumulation of methane gas, killing 16 miners and wounding nine others, two of them seriously, according to Jawaid Shahwani, the top government official in Quetta.

Seven other labourers perished in another incident caused by a mudslide in a mine in the Surrange area, some 60 kilometres east of Quetta.

Two bodies had been recovered and several injured labourers were evacuated on Saturday. The bodies of five more miners, who were trapped in the mine, were recovered later, increasing the death toll to seven.

Quetta Commissioner Javed Anwar Shahwani confirmed that 16 miners were killed in the Marwar mines. Nine of the deceased were identified as Muhammad Bashir, Abdul Rahim, Abdul Waheed, Muhammad Khalid, Nasrullah Abdullah Khan, Abdul Haq, Liaquat Ali and Abdul Latif.

The bodies of the workers who hailed from Swat have been sent to their native towns for burial.

Back in 2011, at least 43 workers were killed when explosions triggered a collapse in a coal mine in Balochistan.