Bodies of the victims are transported to a hospital after a methane gas explosion in the Sorange coalfield on the outskirts of Quetta, Pakistan, on Friday. Photo by Fayyaz Ahmad/EPA
July 31 (UPI) — A coal mine explosion in Pakistan’s Balochistan province left at least 34 people dead and rescue workers scrambling to reach those trapped underground Friday, local officials said.
The gas explosion happened Thursday on the outskirts of Quetta, the capital of the province in the Shangla district. Pakistan’s provincial disaster management authority said the miners were working 4,000 below the surface at the time of the blast.
It’s unclear how many people might still be trapped in the mine, The New York Times reported.
Abid Yaar, president of the Shangla Coal Mine Workers Association, said most of those killed came from Mian Kaly, and most were members of the same extended families. He told Dawn News the workers were between the ages of 17 and 25, some the orphans of miners who had died in previous coal mine incidents.
“It is not just an accident but a lifelong trauma for the families, orphans, widows and mothers who lost their loved ones,” Yaar said. “These young men had gone there only to earn a livelihood and support their families back home.”
Mir Shoaib Nosherwani, Balochistan’s top mining official, said there would be an investigation into the cause of the explosion. He said the victims’ families would also receive $1,800 for each killed worker and $1,100 for each injured worker.