In a mine collapse in Pakistan 10 people were killed and another 38 are feared to have died after methane explosions rocked the underground mine. The state-owned Pakistan Mineral Development Corporation coal mine is located in the Baluchistan province about 35 km away from the province capital of Quetta.
The presence of methane is hampering the rescue operation as per a mining inspector in the 1,200 meter deep mine. Officials have said that poor ventilation had allowed poisonous gases to accumulate and cause the three blasts. The bodies of ten miners had been retrieved by rescue workers before the operation had to be called off.
The provincial Chief Inspector of Mines, Mohammad Iftikar said that the bodies had several burns, which suggested that the blasts had also caused a fire. He said that they were trying their best to save the others. However the Baluchistan Home Secretary Akbar Hussian Durrani said that it would be a miracle if they had survived.
Baluchistan secretary of Mines and Minerals Mushtaq Raisani said that rescue work had to be postponed due to the huge quantity of methane gas inside the mine. The tricky rescue would take at least two days to be completed as per him. He added that some of the emergency crew had been left unconscious by the noxious fumes, had resumed and military experts and engineers had been called in to help.