Eight unidentified armed motorcyclists stormed a private mining site in Balochistan’s Chagai district on Wednesday, abducting seven workers and taking away equipment and supplies worth millions of rupees, according to sources.

The incident took place at around 1pm at the private mines located approximately 15 to 18 kilometres west of Chagai tehsil in Mahian Kor. The attackers held the workers hostage and later took seven of them with them.

The abducted workers included four labourers from Gilgit identified as Wajahat, Wajid, Shahid and Sabir, and three local workers identified as Ziauddin of Dalbandin, Shah Saleem of Mahian, Chagai, and Saeed Muhammad, also a resident of Mahian, Chagai.

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According to sources, the armed men remained at the mining site until around 7pm and took away a Zambad vehicle, a four-wheel-drive pickup, more than 20 solar panels, a Zarinj motorcycle, bedding, kitchen utensils, gas cylinders, 2,500 litres of diesel, 1,500 litres of petrol and other equipment and supplies.

Sources at the private mining company said the attackers stayed at the site for several hours and carried out the operation without haste before fleeing with the abducted workers and stolen property.

The incident was promptly reported to the relevant administration, but the seven abducted workers and the equipment taken by the attackers had not been recovered at the time of this report.

The administration has launched further efforts to trace the abductees and recover the stolen property.