Methane gas explosion blast 4 people in coal mine at Pakistan's Balochistan

A gas explosion inside a coal mine Wednesday killed at least four workers and seriously injured another miner in Pakistan's Balochistan province. The explosion occurred in the coal-rich Chamalang area of Dukki district, 225 kilometres from the capital Quetta. Four coal miners burnt to death as the result of a methane gas blast inside a coal mine in Dukki district, the Dawn newspaper reported.

Dukki's district police officer Sardar Hashim Khan said one coal miner sustained serious injuries as a result of the blast, it said. The deceased, two of whom were siblings, belonged to the same family from neighbouring Afghanistan, Khan said. "Miners were extracting coal from thousands of feet inside the mine when the tragedy struck," a levies official said.

Hazardous working conditions inside Balochistan's coal mines have claimed many lives. According to the data provided by the provincial Mines and Minerals Development Department, over 1,000 coal miners have died in such incidents during the last 18 years in Balochistan. Last week, three miners were killed and four others injured in two separate incidents in the Chamalang coal mines range in Dukki district.

(With inputs from agencies.)