Death toll rises to at least 34 after blast at Pakistan coal mine complex

At least 34 miners have been killed and two remain trapped after a powerful methane gas explosion occurred at a mining complex in Pakistan's Balochistan province on Thursday.

‌An explosion ​buried parts of a mining complex and killed at least 34 ‌miners in Pakistan's Balochistan province on Thursday, a Pakistani official said.

A rescue operation is still underway to find ‌and recover the remaining two trapped miners, said Muhammad ‌Fahad, director of operations for the Provincial Disaster Management Authority. Shoaib Nosherwani, Balochistan's minister for mines and mineral development, earlier told Reuters ⁠that ​36 people ⁠were in the collapsed part of the complex at the ⁠time of the explosion.

Rescue efforts were under way at ​a depth of 4,000 feet (1,219 meters), said Muhammad ⁠Atif, the chief inspector of mines in the province. Abdul Ghani Baloch, ⁠a ​senior government mining official in the region, said: "Two mines close to each other were damaged ⁠in a powerful methane gas explosion."

The explosion occurred in Sorange, ⁠a remote ⁠area near the provincial capital Quetta.