AT least seven miners are dead after an explosion caused a coal mine to collapse in South-western Pakistan, an official said on Monday.

More than a dozen miners were working when an explosion caused the mine to cave in, in the Sanjdi region of Balochistan Province.

“We have recovered bodies of seven miners, whereas six are still trapped,’’ said Muhammad Arslan, a spokesperson for the provincial disaster management authority.

Arslan said the mine caved in following an explosion triggered by an accumulation of methane gas.

Rescue operations were still underway, he added.

Most of the miners were from the Shangla area of the north-western province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, local media reported.

Poor working conditions inside coal mines in mineral-rich Balochistan regularly claim the lives of miners, but often go unreported.

Balochistan is Pakistan’s largest province and hosts a Chinese-built deep-sea port, part of Beijing’s road and rail corridor, known as the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

The corridor is designed to access markets in the Middle East and beyond. (dpa/NAN)

– Aug. 13, 2018 @ 11:45 GMT |