QUETTA: Seven miners were killed in a blast at a coal mine in Balochistan on Monday night, the second such deadly incident in the region in a week.

A build up of methane gas in the mine in the Torghar gas field in the district of Harnai caused an explosion as the workers were inside, Deputy Commissioner Sohail Anwar Hashmi told Reuters.

"Rescue teams recovered the bodies of all seven coal miners this morning, who burnt to death as a huge fire broke out in the mine after the blast," Chief Inspector of Mines Shafqat Fayyaz told Reuters.

Fayyaz said the workers who lost their lives were working at a depth of about 1,500 feet when the explosion occurred, adding that mine has been closed and a probe has been ordered into the incident.

On March 12, eight miners were trapped around 1,000 feet below ground in a mine in the district of Marwar, near the border with Afghanistan, when a buildup of methane gas exploded. Six workers were killed and two other rescued.—Reuters