Read this article in:
English
28 August, 2025A powerful gas explosion killed three mine workers on 26 August 2025 in northwest Balochistan. The blast, caused by methane gas accumulation, blocked the entrance and suffocated the workers trapped inside. The tragedy highlights the ongoing failure to ensure safe working conditions in the region’s coal mines.
Coal mines in Pakistan are infamous for hazardous working conditions causing hundreds of workers to lose their lives every year. According to reports, shared by IndustriALL affiliates in coal mining sector in Pakistan, at least 53 accidents have occurred from January to July this year, in which over a hundred workers have been killed and at least 190 left injured. The exact figures are probably much higher due to under-reporting of such incidents.
According to news reports, earlier this month youth in Shangla district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa organized a large protest rally against the growing number of accidents in coal mines due to unsafe mining practices and presence of many illegal mines. Coal mines in the country largely operate without adequate safety mechanisms, including personal protective equipment and access to immediate medical care in case of accidents.
Coal mine owners and operators do not provide any training to workers on safe mining practices and often there are no safety personnel present at the mining sites. Mine workers in these areas engage in long hours of unsafe work while receiving poverty wages. They are also not covered under any social security schemes.
IndustriALL affiliates have been making concerted efforts to get coal mine workers enrolled into social security schemes. With the support of IndustriALL, affiliated unions also conduct extensive workshops on safe mining practices along with advocating with government authorities for the ratification of ILO Convention 176.
IndustriALL South-Asia regional secretary, Ashutosh Bhattacharya, says:
“It is about time that the government of Pakistan along with coal mine owners take full responsibility of these incidents in coal mining areas which can be easily prevented by strictly implementing safe mining practices and ensuring a safe workplace for mine workers. We call on the government to immediately take steps to ratify ILO C-176 and prevent workers from losing their lives.”