LASHKARGAH (PAN): The southern Helmand has around 16 different mines of precious and semi-precious stones but growing lawlessness has provided a renewed impetus to its illegal excavation and smuggling, an official said.
Esmatullah Shams, provincial mines department head, said the province was extremely rich in natural resources such as uranium, magnate, carbonate, stucco, zing, plumbum, quicksilver, alabaster and others.
If properly excavated, the natural reservoirs of the province would considerably bolster the national economy, he added.
LASHKARGAH (PAN): Coal gas has killed three people and wounded a fourth at a mosque in the Sangin district of southern Helmand province, an official said on Wednesday.
Aged 12-16, the victims were seminary students, who burnt coal to warm their room, the governor’s spokesman, Omar Zwak, told Pajhwok Afghan News.
He said the boys had forgotten pouring water on the coal before going to sleep. The injured student is reportedly in a coma.
LASHKARGAH (PAN): Six people of a family have been burnt to death in a blaze caused by petrol in southern Helmand province, health officials said on Thursday.
Dr. Nisar Ahmad Barak, the Bost Hospital head, told Pajhwok Afghan News the incident happened in Bust Qala locality last night when a woman was washing a turbine with petrol.
Petrol caught fire that spread to a nearby gas cylinder, killing three people on the spot, he said, adding three others succumbed to their injuries at the hospital.
