QUETTA, Pakistan, March 20, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - Two bodies have been pulled from a collapsed mine in southern Pakistan, rescuers said Wednesday, with eight more people feared dead.

A gas explosion rocked the private coal pit in the mining region of Khost, 80 kilometres (50 miles) east of Quetta, on Tuesday evening, trapping 10 people about 800 feet (244 metres) below ground.

"Two dead bodies were recovered by the rescue teams overnight," Ghani Baloch, the chief inspector of mines for Balochistan province, told AFP.

"We fear the rest of the workers may not be alive, however our rescue team members are trying their best to recover them."

A group of eight who attempted to rescue their colleagues also became trapped for several hours, but were later brought to safety by a government rescue team -- some of them unconscious.

Rescue teams from the government's mining department as well as the disaster management agency are at the site.

"The cause of the incident was an accumulation of carbon monoxide gas followed by an explosion. As a result the mine caved in," Baloch told AFP.

Deadly incidents are not uncommon in Pakistani mines, which are notorious for hazardous working conditions and poor safety standards.