Balochistan Chief Inspector of Mines Abdul Ghani Baloch told media that Thursday's explosion was caused by methane gas that occurred when the miners were digging coal inside the mine in the Sanjidi area of Quetta, the provincial capital of Balochistan.

As multiple teams comprising mining engineers and other rescue staff continue to remove the debris, Pakistan's leading daily Dawn reported that bodies of four miners were recovered on Friday afternoon during the operation.

According to the rescuers, the mine completely collapsed after the gas explosion, blocking all the ways to the mine and hampering rescue activities.

The Express Tribune reported that all 12 colliers were feared dead in Balochistan.

"Twelve workers were inside a private mine when the whole mine caved in after an explosion. The rescue teams were slowed down because they could not find the entrance to the mine," the newspaper quoted Abdul Ghani Baloch, a senior official in the province's mining department, as saying.

Mining accidents are common in Pakistan as health and safety standards are seldom put in place in the mines primarily because of sporadic and irregular mine inspections, according to a recent report by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan.

Twelve labourers were killed and eight others injured in an explosion in a coal mine in the same area, last year.

The explosion in March 2024 had occurred as toxic gas accumulated inside the cave in Harnai district of the Balochistan province.

The labourers were working inside the mine when the blast happened and eight more people, who had entered the mine trying to rescue their trapped colleagues, were also trapped as the entire mine collapsed.

Courtesy Media Group: IANS