KARACHI: Rescue work to find three workers trapped inside the Dudder mine in Lasbela district was suspended on Sunday.

The decision was taken after water level in the shaft reached 90 metres, said officials of Balochistan`s Directorate of Chief Inspector of Mines.

On Sept 24, a lif t carrying five workers four Chinese engineers and one Pakistani electrician fell 1,000 metres deep inside the lead and zinc mine. Two engineers had managed to reach the shaft and come out of the mine through ladders.

The two trapped engineers had also come out of the mine earlier, but when they did not find electrician Mohammad Anwar they went back inside the mine to rescue him.

According to the Chief Inspector of Mines, Iftikhar Ahmed Khan, while going back inside the mine they had carried oxygen cylinders, first aid kitand some food. But they lost contact with their team outside the mine within half an hour.

The power system providing electricity and ventilation and machinery used to cool down high temperatures were destroyed in the incident.

Rescue work to find the trapped workers had been continuing since the incident occurred on the evening of Sept 24.

A team of Chinese experts, along with the chairman of MMC Huaye Dudder Mining Company, Zou Jianhui, has reached Lasbela from Beijing to join the rescue work being supervised by the company`s president, Kong Fuian.

Iftikhar Khan expressed the fear that they might not be able to find the trapped workers alive as the shaf t was now filled with water.

He told Dawn that although the Chinese company relied on its own rescue team, the Pakistan Army and the National Disaster Management Authority had sent their rescuers incase any help was needed.

There are about 12,000 mines in Balochistan which are regulated under the Mines Act of 1923. The most recent amendment to the act was done in 2002. Apart from reserves of gold, silver and copper in Saindak, Chagai district, most of the work is being done to extract coal, chromite (iron) and marble from north of the province.

Trade unions often cite lack of safety training for deaths of miners.

According to the president of Balochistan Federation of Trade Union, Sultan Mohammad Khan, `10 to 12 mine workers die every month while doing mining work`.

A similar incident was reported from Dukki tehsil of Loralai district in northeast of Balochistan in February last year when nine coal miners died due to an explosion in one of the mines there. Though a lot of hue and cry was created about the incident, nothing was done to improve the working conditions of miners.