EIGHT MINERS KILLED IN COAL MINE EXPLOSION

QUETTA, JULY 30 /SRNA/ - At least eight miners have been killed, and dozens are reported missing after an explosion buried parts of a mining complex in Pakistan's Balochistan province, officials said.

Chief Mines Inspector Muhammad Atif said that 36 people were in the collapsed section of the complex at the time of the explosion.

"Of that number, 28 are still reported missing, and rescue operations are under way at a depth of 1,219 metres. We hope to find some of the miners alive, but the chances are slim," Atif told Reuters.

Senior government mining official Abdul Ghani Baloch told Reuters that two mines located close to each other were damaged in a powerful methane explosion.

The explosion occurred in Sorange, a remote area near Quetta, the provincial capital.