As many as 18 workers were killed and one was wounded when an explosion occurred inside a coalmine in Dara Suf Bala district of the northern Samangan province, according to a local official.
Talking to Kabul Now, Sultan Ali Sultan, district chief of Dara Suf Bala said today, Wednesday, June 10, that so far they have taken out two dead bodies. He said that dead toll is likely to rise.
A rescue operation is slowly underway for lack of sufficient forces and excessive blackdamp inside the mine, according to him.
The victims are workers including some mine contractors who originally come from the central Daikundi province.
The incident took place on Tuesday, June 09, around 11:00 a.m. in Shabashak area of the district.
Situated in north of the country, Samangan is rich in coalmines which are mostly extracted through primitive extraction means in a way which is not safe for the workers.
According to local authorities, dozens lose their lives in the province’s coalmines every year.
