Two Miners Die of Gas Poisoning in Afghanistan’s Samangan

Two mine workers have died from gas poisoning in Samangan, underscoring the continuing dangers faced by laborers in Afghanistan’s coal mines.

Local Taliban authorities in Samangan say two mine workers have died after being overcome by toxic gas inside a coal mine in the province’s Dara-i-Suf Bala district.

The Taliban’s police command in Samangan said in a statement on Saturday, March 28, that the incident happened on Friday inside a mine, where the workers reportedly lost their lives due to gas exposure.

According to the statement, the bodies of the two workers were recovered and, after legal registration procedures were completed, were handed over to their families for burial.

Taliban officials said the victims were originally from Bamiyan and Daikundi provinces, two central Afghanistan regions from where many laborers travel to mining areas in search of work.

The incident once again 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 Afghanistan’s most active mining sites and have long been linked to fatal accidents, including tunnel collapses, gas poisoning and a lack of emergency rescue equipment.

Mining accidents have repeatedly exposed the broader weakness of workplace safety standards in Afghanistan, especially as economic hardship forces more people into hazardous labor with little protection or oversight.

The deaths of the two workers are likely to renew concerns over labor safety in Afghanistan mines, where preventable accidents continue to claim lives with alarming frequency.

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