Amman, July 31 (Petra)-- At least 34 miners were killed after a methane gas explosion ripped through a coal mine in Pakistan's southwestern province of Balochistan, regional disaster management authorities said early Friday.

According to China's Xinhua News Agency, the Provincial Disaster Management Authority said rescue teams had recovered 34 bodies from the site.

"Based on information received from rescue teams deployed at the scene, 34 bodies have been retrieved," the authority said, adding that a joint rescue operation remains underway to locate and recover any miners still trapped underground.

Balochistan Minister for Mines and Minerals Shoaib Nosherwani said rescue crews were continuing operations under extremely difficult conditions to reach the remaining workers trapped beneath the surface. He added that an investigation had been launched to determine the cause of the explosion.

A total of 42 miners were underground at the time of the incident.

//Petra// MF