HARNAI: Rescue operations have been completed after a toxic gas explosion at a Pakistan Mineral Development Corporation (PMDC) coal mine in Shahrag, Harnai district of Balochistan, but the deaths of four miners and injuries to five others have raised serious questions over mine safety standards and the effectiveness of the official rescue system.
The provincial administration and relevant authorities have ordered a formal investigation into the incident to determine the cause of the toxic gas leak and subsequent explosion.
Rescue officials said teams recovered the bodies of all four miners killed in the incident and evacuated five injured workers from the mine.
The injured miners received initial medical treatment before authorities transferred them to hospitals in Quetta in critical condition, rescue sources said.
Authorities confirmed that all nine miners involved in the incident came from different districts of neighbouring Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
Official Claims vs Workers’ Concerns
Other miners working at the affected site and local residents have expressed serious concerns over the administration’s response to the accident.
According to the workers, government rescue teams did not reach the site in time after the explosion. As a result, local residents and fellow miners entered the mine themselves, risking their lives to rescue the trapped workers.
The workers said the incident exposed weaknesses in the emergency response system and placed additional lives at risk during the rescue operation.
Questions Over Mine Safety Measures
The latest accident has once again highlighted concerns over alleged violations of mine safety regulations and weaknesses in emergency rescue arrangements in Balochistan’s coal mines.
Experts and labour organisations have long called for stronger safety measures, including modern equipment capable of detecting hazardous gases and an effective emergency response system.
They say the absence of such equipment and delays in rescue operations continue to put miners’ lives at risk and contribute to the loss of valuable lives in the province’s coal mines.
The authorities’ investigation is expected to establish the circumstances surrounding the gas leak and explosion and determine whether safety regulations were followed at the mine
