Three killed, 24 injured in Sarawak coal mine explosion

KUCHING: Three people were killed and 24 were injured in a coal mine explosion in Pantu, Sarawak on Saturday morning.

The incident occurred just before noon, said a brief report from the General Operations Force, which added the information came from the Sri Aman police station.

It said that fire and rescue teams were on their way to the site, which is about 130km from Kuching.

About 10 foreign workers were sighted at the accident and emergency department in the Sarawak General Hospital, although members of the media were told to keep a distance.

In March 2012, four Chinese nationals died when a fire broke inside the tunnel of a coal mine in Abok, which is located not far from Pantu.