Five Burmese migrants injured in a coal mine blast in Malaysia’s Sarawak State on 22 November are recovering, and three of them have been carried by helicopter to other hospitals in Malaysia, said Win Win Min, a diplomat in charge of labour issues at Burma’s embassy in Malaysia.

The explosion killed one Burmese migrant and injured six others. One individual has already been discharged from the hospital and the condition of the remaining five injured migrants is improving, Min Min Win said.

“One of our workers died in the coal mine blast and six were injured. The incident happened on Saturday morning. Among the six injured persons, one was discharged from the hospital because his condition improved. Since the Sarawak hospital is full we sent two Burmese citizens by helicopter yesterday to Kota Kinabalu [the capital of Sabah State]. Another injured worker was sent to a hospital in Kuala Lumpur by a Malaysian Air Force plane. At the moment, none of the five hospitalized workers are in serious condition.”

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Min Min Win added that the injured workers would get compensation because they have proper visa status, and that they are also planning to ask for additional compensation from the employment agency which dispatched them to Malaysia.

Aside from the six individuals from Burma, some workers from North Korea, Indonesia and Bangladesh were also injured in the blast. In addition, Burmese migrants in Malaysia told DVB that three workers from North Korean were killed in the explosion.

According to Burmese diplomat Min Min Win, a total of 32 Burmese citizens were working in the coal mine when the explosion occurred.