The report from the HRCP has raised serious concerns about the state of safety standards in coal mines across the region of Darra Adam Khel, Kohat. The report states that despite the existence of laws and regulations, there are significant gaps in their implementation and enforcement due to which numerous tragic accidents were frequently reported in the Darra Adam Khel, Kohat coal mine.
The HRCP fact-finding report claimed that on October 20, 2023, three coal mineworkers in Darra Adam Khel, Kohat died due to exposure to toxic gases in a coal mine. Similarly in August two coal miner lost their life due to the explosives in the coal mine.
The report further stated that around 15,000 laborers are working in challenging and harsh conditions, with just plastic shoes and shalwar kameez using old way of mining techniques for extracting coal in the coal mining industry of Darra Adam Khel.
The report also revealed the miserable situation of the area hospital, where the workers were admitted when they sustained injuries from falling stones or explosive materials in the coal mine. Reports state that the hospital lacks basic life-saving medicine and surgical facilities and did not receive enough funds from the provisional government after the merger.
Such tragic death accidents of coal mineworkers were not just limited to Dera Adam Khel, according to a report in the year 2020 a year of horror for coal mineworkers in Pakistan at least 208 workers lost their lives in mining activities across Pakistan.
According to the HRCP fact-finding mission, at least 176 mineworkers were killed and 180 injured in mining accidents in 2021 across Pakistan.
Similarly, in recent years 2022 the coal mining industry in Pakistan has seen a high number of fatal accidents with almost 150 workers lost their life report claimed.
Another report claimed that in 2023, at least 100 mineworkers died in workplace accidents in Pakistan due to dangerous working conditions, lack of safety equipment, and inadequate enforcement of labor laws.
These were just reported death tolls of coal mineworkers from the past few years, there have been thousands of unreported deaths of minors who lost their lives while working in the darkness of mining across the country.Â