Rescuers save 2, retrieve 8 bodies after Pakistan mine blast
- Quetta, AP
- 16 July 2019, 16:00
A Pakistani official says rescue teams saved two miners and retrieved the bodies of eight others after a methane explosion trapped the 10 in a coalmine in southwestern Baluchistan province.
Imran Zarkun, a top disaster management official, says the search operation was completed on Tuesday. An investigation into the incident will follow.
The mine partially caved in more than 4,000 feet (1,220 meters) below the surface in the Degari area near the provincial capital, Quetta, following the Sunday night explosion.
The two miners rescued on Tuesday were in critical condition. On Monday, rescuers found another miner, not part of the group of 10, who had been closer to the surface when the blast occurred.
Safety standards are widely ignored in the coal-mining industry in Pakistan, leading to numerous deadly incidents.
