2 more Shangla colliers die in separate incidents

ALPURI: Two miners died and four others sustained injuries in separate coalmines blast and collapse incidents in various areas in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on the first day of the new year on Monday.

The first incident occurred in Darra Adamkhel where a collier identified as Sajjad Ali, a resident of Banjar in Shangla, died in an explosion caused by gas accumulation inside a coalmine.

Four other miners — Zahid Jan, Sajjad Ahmad, Farid Khan and Hazrat Ali— sustained injuries in the explosion, who were shifted to a hospital in Peshawar.

Similarly, a miner named Baroz Khan, a resident of Pagorai in Shangla, lost his life when the coalmine in Torghar area in Kurram tribal district collapsed.

According to data, over 54 incidents of coalmine collapse and explosion occurred in which 70 miners from Shangla district have died and over 125 injured in 2023.

Hundreds of families from the Shangla district have fallen victims to coalmine incidents all over the country, most of which result from official apathy and lack of safety measures by mine owners.

Owing to the rough terrain, scarce employment opportunities and lack of basic civic facilities, the residents have no other choice but to look for jobs as mine workers all over the country to eke out a living.

The mines lack facilities and the miners work under unfavourable conditions inside the quarries.