Four coal miners were killed and five others injured in a gas explosion at a Pakistan Mineral Development Corporation (PMDC) mine in the Shahrag area of Harnai district on Sunday.
Chief Inspector of Mines Muhammad Atif said the rescue operation had been completed and the bodies of four miners, along with five injured workers, had been recovered from the mine.
The injured were initially taken to Shahrag Hospital before being referred to Quetta for further treatment, while the bodies were handed over to their families.
Dr Obaid of Harnai Hospital identified those killed as Obaidullah, Khayal Muhammad, Khayal Zada and Zahid Ali. The injured were identified as Gul Zaman, Aqeel Zada, Saeedullah, Noor Bacha and Noor Alam.
Officials said all nine miners were from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Atif said the explosion was caused by an accumulation of toxic gas, which also triggered a partial collapse of the mine. He said an investigation had been ordered.
Miners at the site, however, disputed the official account of the rescue response, saying no government rescue team was present immediately after the explosion.
They said fellow miners and local residents carried out the initial rescue operation and brought the dead and injured workers out of the mine.
The incident follows a major mining accident in Sorange, near Quetta, in July, where a toxic-gas explosion reportedly killed 36 miners, most of them from Shangla district.
In June, two miners were killed when a coal mine collapsed in the Khost area of Harnai.
Mining workers’ organisations have repeatedly raised concerns over inadequate safety measures and limited rescue facilities in Balochistan’s coal mining sector.