Kabul, March 29 (IANS) Two mine workers have died due to gas poisoning in Afghanistan’s Samangan, local media reported on Sunday.
According to local Taliban authorities in Samangan, the two workers died due to gas poisoning inside a coal mine in Dara-i-Suf Bala district of Samangan, news agency Khaama Press reported.
In a statement on Saturday, the Taliban’s police command in Samangan said that the two workers died due to gas exposure. The bodies were handed over to their families for burial after completing legal registration procedures, according to the statement. Taliban officials said the victims belonged to Bamiyan and Daikundi provinces.
The incident demonstrates the dangerous conditions in the mining sector of Afghanistan, where many workers continue to operate in poorly ventilated and minimally regulated underground environments.
Coal mines in Dara-i-Suf are among the most active mining sites in Afghanistan and have long been connected to fatal accidents, including tunnel collapses, gas poisoning, and the unavailability of emergency rescue equipment.
Mining accidents have showcased the weakness of workplace safety standards in Afghanistan as economic hardship forces more people into hazardous labour with little protection or oversight.
Last month, one person was killed and another injured in a mine collapse in Nangarhar province of Afghanistan, according to local police officials.
In a statement, the provincial police headquarters said that the incident took place at a sapphire mine in the Mamand Tor Nawo area of Spin Ghar district, Pajhwok Afghan News reported.
According to the statement, one person was killed while another was injured after they were buried under debris and rocks. Security forces took the injured person to the nearby health care facility for medical treatment.
On January 9, at least four miners died from carbon monoxide poisoning in a precious and semi-precious stones mine in the Khash district of Badakhshan, provincial police spokesman Ehsanullah Kamgar told Xinhua News Agency.
Kamgar stated that toxic gas accumulated in the underground workings, resulting in four workers suffocating to death. The official stated that the bodies of the victims were recovered from the site and handed over to their families.
