1
QUETTA: “No doubt our survival is a miracle since we had plunged 1,300 feet deep and went without food and water for five days. Allah has indeed given us a fresh lease of life,” says Muhammad Omer, a coal miner in his 30s.
He was admitted to Quetta’s Civil Hospital after being rescued from a collapsed mine, along with five of his co-workers.
The six were trapped inside the mine in Tor Ghar area of Harnai district on March 22 after a methane gas blast. Three workers were rescued within 24 hours while the three others remained trapped at a forbidding depth of 1300 feet for five days.
After the powerful blast, the only way out choked up as the owner had not felt the need for an emergency exit.
“We were stuck in a black hole where nothing was visible. The mouth of the mine got blocked. We had nothing to eat and drink.
“I don’t know how we were able to breathe,” Muhammad said, trying to hold back tears of joy.
“Every moment was pushing us towards death, but Allah decided to give us more time, enabling rescue teams to reach us. They managed to take us out from the black hole alive.”
The condition of one of the rescued miners is critical. He is facing difficulty breathing. “He will be stable soon as he is under constant watch,” Dr Wasim Baig, spokesman for the hospital, told Dawn.
The Chief Inspector of Mines, Abdul Ghani Mashwani, said rescue teams faced difficulties due to the presence of poisonous methane gas.
“Through a pipe, we had arranged oxygen for them through an alternative way,” he said.
Four teams spent days and nights to make sure the miners got out alive.
Repeated calls to the owner of the mine for obtaining his version went unanswered.
It was the second accident at this particular mine over the last three years. “In 2019 the mine closed after a methane gas blast, claiming several lives,” Syed Zafar Bukhari, the provincial secretary for mines, told Dawn.
He said the owner restarted work in the mine after acquittal from the court.
Balochistan is rich in mineral resources like oil and gas, gold, silver, copper, iron, marble, chromite coal.
Coal mining started in the province before Partition. Some of the largest coal fields are in Quetta, Mach, Marwar, Harnai and Loralai.
The history of tragedies is also very old. Gas explosions are frequent as neither the authorities nor owners care two hoots about the workers’ safety.
In 2011, at least 43 miners were killed in a PMDC-owned facility in Sorrange after the Pakistan Mineral Development Corporation carried out a blast at a depth of 4,500 feet to extract coal.
“The use of explosives is not allowed in coal mines,” Sultan Muhammad, secretary general of the Central Mines Labour Federation, said.
Over 400 workers and engineers were killed in 1892 in Khost Zardalo area of Harnai when the East India Company ordered a blast in a mine.
The son of Mr Penmen, a senior official of the East India Company, also died in the blast.
According to Syed Zafar Bukhari, the provincial secretary, it is mandatory to check the presence of methane in a mine before allowing workers to enter it for extracting coal. But the owners do not implement safety measures.
He said most accidents occurred due to accumulation of methane gas inside mines.
Over 400 deaths
As many as 444 miners have died in accidents across Balochistan over the last few years.
“Over the last three months alone, 39 miners lost their lives,” Sultan Muhammad, the mine workers federation secretary general, said.
He alleged that most of the mines were being run illegally, but the authorities do not close them “thanks to corruption”.
Sultan alleged that most of the contractors neither build escape routes nor do they provide ventilator systems.
Officials put the numbers of coal mines around 1,600 while unofficial sources claim the number of legal and illegal coal mines is over 20,000 in the province.
According to the secretary, mines and mineral development, lease for only 160 mine leases were granted in the province. He conceded the existence of illegal mines as owners use their political clout.
Published in Dawn, March 28th, 2022
