Islamabad, Jun. 3, (dpa/GNA) – At least 11 coal miners died due to suffocation caused by toxic gases in south-western Pakistan, officials said on Monday.

The incident took place some 40 kilometres from Quetta, the provincial capital of Balochistan province, on Monday when 11 miners got trapped while working.

“”Initial reports say that the miners died due to toxic gases in the mine,” Shahid Rind, spokesman for the Balochistan government, told dpa.

Rind said that the dead included manager and contractor of the mine.

“The bodies of all the dead have been recovered,” Shah Jamal, a spokesperson for the local rescue department, said.

Meanwhile, Rind said that the provincial government has “ordered action for not following the safety protocols.”

Poor working conditions inside coal mines in mineral-rich Balochistan regularly claim the lives of miners, but accidents 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), which is designed to access markets in the Middle East and beyond. GNA