QUETTA: All 45 miners trapped in the coalmine in Sorange have died and as many as 30 bodies have been retrieved. During proceedings of the Balochistan Assembly, Minister for Irrigation and Power Sardar Aslam Bizenjo confirmed that all the 45 miners trapped in the mine had died.

According to the Mines Department, Chief Inspector, 45 miners were mining at a depth of 6,000 feet in the coalmine, which collapsed due to powerful explosions caused by accumulation of methane gas. Thirty bodies have been taken out while efforts are underway to take out more bodies trapped in the coal mine.

The CI said most of the bodies were either decomposed or completely burnt and the majority of the victims belonged to Shangrila, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and two victims belonged to Afghanistan. Around 20 bodies had been sent to their respective families, he added.

The chief inspector said that the government had already constituted an inquiry committee to probe the incident. “The committee is probing the fact that despite the issuance of a warning, why was the mining not stopped,” Home Secretary Akbar Hussain Durrani said.

 

By Staff Reporter