Pakistan coal mine blast toll rises to 45

Agencies/Quetta

A Pakistani miner and relatives wait outside a tunnel during the ongoing rescue operation at the coal mine in Sorange district of Baluchistan yesterday

The death toll from Sunday’s methane gas explosions in a coal mine in Pakistan’s southwestern province of Baluchistan rose to 45 yesterday, government officials said, as hopes faded there would be any survivors from the disaster. More than 50 miners were in the mine when three big explosions triggered by methane gas ripped through the caverns. “Forty-five miners have died. We have retrieved 25 bodies so far,” Aslam Bizenjo, provincial irrigation minister, told the provincial assembly. Officials said the chances of finding the trapped workers alive were very slim because of a fire, which had consumed all the oxygen. Witnesses said the bodies had severe burns from the huge fire. The mine, some 35km from the provincial capital, Quetta, is owned by the state-run Pakistan Mineral Development Corporation and was leased to a contractor. Mohamed Iftikhar, chief inspector of mines in the region, said the contractor had been asked to shut down the mine two weeks ago because of an excessive accumulation of methane gas. The mine in the far-flung Sorange district of the troubled southwestern province was poorly ventilated, allowing poisonous gases to accumulate and trigger blasts which led to the collapse on Sunday, officials said. Abdul Raziq, a police officer in Quetta, also said yesterday that the chances of finding the trapped workers alive were slim. The accident took place early Sunday and rescue work continued overnight, Raisani said. “We are hopeful we will complete it today (Monday),” he added. Rescue workers retrieved 10 bodies on Sunday. “They had severe burns, which means that the blasts also caused a fire,” Mohamed Iftikhar said overnight. He had earlier said the victims died of suffocation. Baluchistan’s home secretary Akbar Hussain Durrani said the missing workers were unlikely to receive enough oxygen to survive. Rescue work, which had to be briefly stopped on Sunday because some of the emergency crew were knocked unconscious by the noxious fumes, had resumed and military experts and engineers had been called in to help, Raisani said.  “They are removing debris and are trying to clear the way to move forward but we are not able to move forward,” he said, adding that the mine operators had ignored previous warnings to stop work at the site. The mine is run by the state-owned Pakistan Mineral Development Corporation and officials said they will launch an investigation into why the warnings to stop mining were not heeded. Rich in mineral wealth, Baluchistan is plagued by an insurgency blamed on nationalist tribesmen demanding more jobs and royalties from the region’s natural resources. Hundreds of people have died in the violence since 2004. Most coal mines in the impoverished province are notorious for overseeing poor safety standards and similar deadly accidents have occurred in the past.The country has huge coal reserves estimated at more than 184bn tonnes. It produces 4mn tonnes of coal annually, most of which is consumed by brick-making kilns.