20 Mar 2011

Blast in Pakistan coal mine traps 30

9:33 pm on 20 March 2011

Methane gas has sparked an explosion inside a coal mine in Pakistan's southwestern province of Baluchistan, trapping around 30 miners.

A government official said the blast occurred in a mine run by the state-owned Pakistan Mineral Development Corporation in Surran range, some 35 kilometres east of the provincial capital, Quetta.

He says they don't know about any casualties.

Such explosions are not uncommon in coal mines in Pakistan, most of which are located in Baluchistan and neighbouring Sindh province, where safety measures can be lax.