QUETTA: At least nine coal miners were killed and dozens remained trapped after a coal mine collapsed on Thursday following an explosion in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province, officials said.
Coal mine accidents are common in Pakistan, particularly in resource-rich Balochistan, where workers and labor unions have long blamed poor enforcement of safety regulations, inadequate ventilation and methane gas build-ups for frequent fatalities. Many of the province's mines are privately operated, and previous investigations into deadly accidents have highlighted inadequate safety equipment and weak regulatory oversight.
The latest accident occurred in the Sorange coalfield, about 16 kilometers (10 miles) from the provincial capital of Quetta. It follows a string of deadly mining disasters in Balochistan, including a methane gas explosion that killed 12 miners in Harnai in March 2024 and another in Sanjdi in June 2024 that claimed 11 lives. In January 2025, 12 miners died after a methane explosion at a coal mine near Quetta following a six-day rescue operation.
“Nine bodies have been retrieved,” Naveed Ahmed, head of the Rescue 1122 service, told Arab News.
“The rescue operation is still going on as 24 miners are still trapped inside the debris of collapsed mine.”
Muhammad Asif, chief mine inspector at the provincial mining department, told Arab News about 30 miners had been working around 4,500 feet underground in the privately owned mine when it caved in.
Asked whether the collapse was caused by a methane gas explosion, he said rescue efforts remained the immediate priority.
“Initially we are engaged in the relief operation to rescue the trapped workers,” he said. “After the rescue operation, the cause of the explosion will be investigated.”
Umer Hayat, general secretary of the National Labor Federation, said the collapse occurred at around 4pm while miners were working underground.
“There are less chances of any survivor because the mine was completely caved in,” he told Arab News. “The rescue operation will take hours due to the blockade of the path leading inside the mine.”
Balochistan’s Minister for Mines and Minerals Shoaib Nosherwani said officials from the mining department and the Provincial Disaster Management Authority had reached the site and were overseeing a large-scale rescue operation.
“All resources are being utilized to remove the debris of the collapsed mine in order to gain access to the trapped workers,” he said in a statement.
