Police files FIR of Thatta coalmine drowning incident

THATTA: Police has registered FIR of drowning incident of nine miners in a flooded coalmine at Jhimpir, ARY News reported on Thursday.

Jhimpir Police has arrested two accused, coalmine contractor Alamzeb and manager Umar Mohammad, over ignorance in coalmine operations.

“Accused have been alleged of neglect as they forced the workers to work during heavy rainfall,” according to the police. “Floodwater entered in the coalmine resulting in death of the miners by drowning,” SHO Jhimpir said.

Ten miners were trapped in the coalmine in Jhimpir on July 05, after it was flooded with rainwater.

The rescue workers facing difficulty due to rainfall, deputy commissioner Thatta Ghazanfar Ali said.

The rescue operation amid heavy rainfall was resulted in failure.

Last year, six miners were working in a coalmine near Jhampir, when it collapsed. The rescue teams were managed to retrieve bodies of three labourers.

Coal miners have to work in dangerous conditions in Pakistan with poor safety measures.

Frequent incidents of explosions caused by accumulation of poisonous gases in mines and collapse of mines shelves often prove fatal for miners.

According to the Pakistan Central Mines Labour Federation around 200 miners die and hundreds of others are injured in frequent accidents in coal mines only in Balochistan province every year.