Amman, July 31 (Petra)– At least 34 miners were killed after a
methane gas explosion ripped through a coal mine in Pakistan’s
southwestern province of Balochistan, regional disaster management
authorities said early Friday.

According to China’s Xinhua News Agency, the Provincial Disaster
Management Authority said rescue teams had recovered 34 bodies from
the site.

“Based on information received from rescue teams deployed at the
scene, 34 bodies have been retrieved,” the authority said, adding
that a joint rescue operation remains underway to locate and recover
any miners still trapped underground.

Balochistan Minister for Mines and Minerals Shoaib Nosherwani said
rescue crews were continuing operations under extremely difficult
conditions to reach the remaining workers trapped beneath the
surface. He added that an investigation had been launched to
determine the cause of the explosion.

A total of 42 miners were underground at the time of the incident.

//Petra// MF