By Syed Ali Shah

August 13, 2018 - Bodies of seven of the 14 laborers trapped in a coal mine in Pakistan have been recovered following a gas explosion last night.

Rescue teams are trying to recover seven other coal miners who are still believed to be trapped in the mine. The excavation operation has been underway since yesterday.

Following the blast, the Balochistan Provincial Disaster Management Authority had said that the rescue teams were trying to retrieve the trapped miners, but had remained coy about the chances of their survival.

The miners belong to Shangla, Swat and Dir areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Poor working conditions inside coal mines in Balochistan claim the lives of miners on an almost daily basis in Harnai, Sowrange, Dukki, Mach and other parts of the province, but often go unreported.

Coal mining is considered much more hazardous than hard rock mining due to flat-lying rock strata, generally incompetent rock, leakage or explosion of poisonous gases and coal dust, collapsing of mine stopes or general mechanical errors from improper use and malfunctioning of mining equipment.

According to the Pakistan Central Mines Labour Federation, between 100 and 200 laborers die on average in coal mine accidents every year.