More than 20 workers killed in Baghlan coal mine explosion.
More than 20 people have been killed and several others seriously injured in a deadly explosion at the Karkar coal mine in Pul-i-Khumri city, Baghlan province.
The incident occurred around noon on Tuesday, July 22, and efforts are still underway to pull the victims out of the rubble.
Local sources confirmed the incident to the media, telling them that six bodies have been pulled out of the rubble so far and 24 injured have been taken to medical centers. The condition of a number of the injured is reported to be serious. However, the final death toll is not yet known.
The incident has once again drawn attention to the disastrous and substandard state of mining in Afghanistan, a part of an industry that continues to operate without supervision, without safety equipment, and with heavy exploitation of poor labor.
After the Taliban came to power, poverty, unemployment, and lack of economic opportunities forced thousands of people to risk their lives to work in mines. In the absence of control mechanisms and technical supervision, such human tragedies have become a recurring trend.
