At least 9 workers killed in Kohat coal mine blast

KOHAT - An explosion at a coal mine in a district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Wednesday killed nine workers, and trapped around two others.

A part of the mine collapsed after methane gas produced from the coals caused an explosion in Akhrowal, an area of Kohat district. As many as 11 workers were trapped when the mine caved in, local media reported.

Rescues officials have recovered bodies of nine workers while efforts are being made to rescue the two other labourers. It is learned that all the workers belong to Shangla.

On August 13, around 18 people, including two rescue officials, were killed after a blast tore through a coal mine in Balochistan.

The mine collapsed after workers used dynamite during an excavation in Sinjidi, some 45 kilometres east of Quetta.

Rescue teams had recovered nine workers alive from different tunnels while eighteen had been found dead at the depth of 800 feet and 4,000 feet.

The accident follows numerous fatalities in Pakistani mines, where up to 200 workers are killed in accidents in coal mines alone each year, according to the country’s Central Mines Labour Federation.

In May, 23 workers were killed in a gas explosion at a mine in Marwaarh, and a further seven died in a separate landslide in a nearby mine. A further 15 people were injured in the two accidents, which officials also claimed were caused by methane gas explosions.