Kabul, March 29 – Two miners have died from gas poisoning in Samangan, Afghanistan, local media reported on Sunday.
According to local Taliban authorities in Samangan, the two miners died from gas poisoning inside a coal mine in the Dara-i-Suf Bala district of Samangan, Khaama Press reported.
In a statement on Saturday, the Taliban's police command in Samangan said that the two miners died from exposure to gas. The bodies were handed over to their families for burial after completing the necessary legal procedures, according to the statement. Taliban officials said that the victims were from the Bamiyan and Daikundi provinces.
The incident highlights the dangerous conditions in Afghanistan's mining sector, 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 associated with fatal accidents, including tunnel collapses, gas poisoning, and the unavailability of emergency rescue equipment.
Mining accidents have highlighted the weakness of workplace safety standards in Afghanistan, as economic hardship forces more people into hazardous labor with little protection or oversight.
Last month, one person was killed and another injured in a mine collapse in the 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, Xinhua News Agency was told by Ehsanullah Kamgar, the provincial police spokesman.
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.