QUETTA At least 14 coal miners were killed and 19 others were injured, eight of them critically, when a powerful explosion rocked a mine in Sorenge, about 30km east of here, on Thursday.

'The victims were burnt to death as a fire broke out after a blast at a depth of around 400 feet,' Dr Abdul Jabbar told Dawn.

According to sources, a group of miners had entered the mine owned by the Pakistan Mineral Development Corporation in the morning. At around noon, the powerful explosion sparked a fire.

Soon after the blast rescue teams reached the area along with other mine workers and rescue operation continued for several hours. The rescue work was hampered by the fire in the mine. However, the rescue teams managed to save the lives of 33 miners.

'Fourteen miners were burnt to death,' the sources said, adding that 19 miners received burns and were taken to the health centre of the PMDC in Sorenge. Eight of the seriously injured were later taken to the Bolan Medical College Hospital in Quetta.

PMDC's chief mining engineer Bakhtiar Ali told Dawn that the blast had been caused by methane gas which had accumulated in the mine.

'The blast took place when the axe of a miner hit a hard object, causing sparks and the fire,' he said.