QUETTA - Nine coalminers suffocated to death due to poisonous gas in a coalmine at Balochistan town of Machh on Sunday. As per reports, nine coalminers including Abdul Hassan, Khudadad, Ali Akbar, Abdul Rahim, Ali Jan, Abdul Nadir and Ali Jan were busy in extracting coal from a mine some 15km away from Machh town on Sunday morning, when poisonous gas gushed out in the mine which resulted in death of nine of them. Sources said that soon after the incident rescue workers started efforts for retrieving bodies from the mine. Only one body was retrieved till filing of this report. The sources said that the deceased belonged to Afghanistan who were working in coalmine in Machh to earn a livelihood. "The coal mine has collapsed completely and there is very less chance of survival of the stranded miners" a member of the rescue teams dispatched to the area said, adding that efforts were on to secure safe exit of any survivors.