45 die in coal mine gas explosion

in the country’s southwestern Balochistan province.
Balochistan Minister for Irrigation, Aslam Bizenjo, told the provincial assembly that 45 miners have been confirmed dead while 24 bodies have been recovered. The operation is underway to pull other bodies out of the rubbles.
Bizenjo said that the rescue operation may take several more hours to take the trapped miners out of the pit since Sunday morning.
The rescue team said they have rescued four injured miners.
Troops have also been called out to help in rescue operation as hopes for the remaining trapped miners are diminishing.
Earlier reports suggested that there were 52 miners working at different levels of the mine, which are about 61 meters to 305 meters deep underground, when the disaster happened.
Balochistan’s Minister for Mines, Rehman Mengal, told local Dawn TV that the provincial government had asked the state-run Pakistan Mineral Development Corporation (PMDC), which owns the mine, to shut it because of dangerous environment and lack of safety measures. Reports said the explosion occurred as gas accumulated due to poor ventilation in the mine. Mengal said the provincial authorities had asked for the closure of the mine at Sorange area, some 35 kilometres from Quetta, the provincial capital, after an earlier blast claimed 15 lives. – Xinhua.