QUETTA: Thousands of mourners attended the funeral prayers of the coalminers slain in Mach terror attack which were offered at Hazara Town graveyard in Quetta on Saturday, amid sobs, tears and grief. The funeral prayers of the coalminers were originally planned to be offered at Imambargah Wali-ul-Asr but the venue was shifted to the Hazara Town graveyard after a huge crowd turned up to attend the funerals.

The large gathering included federal and provincial ministers, National Assembly Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri, local politicians and other high-ups. The Centre was represented by Federal Minister Ali Zaidi and Special Assistant to the Prime Minister Zulfi Bukhari. Balochistan Home Minister Ziaullah Langov and Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen's Allama Raja Nasir Abbas attended the funeral prayers.

The burials happened on the seventh day of the sit-in protest which ended after the government's negotiations with the relatives of the Mach tragedy victims produced results as both sides agreed to proceed further ending the six-day long deadlock. It has been agreed to set up a special commission to investigate the disappearance of the Hazara community members.

"Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa will visit Quetta soon and the date and schedule of the visit will be disclosed soon," the sources said. The countrywide protests against the brutal killing of Hazara workers also ended on the seventh day. The announcement of the funerals was announced by Balcohistan Chief Minister Jam Kamal in a tweet.

Things took an ugly turn on Friday when Prime Minister Imran Khan refused to travel to Quetta to meet Hazara community leaders and also called them "blackmailers".

The remarks came under harsh criticism from politicians and on social media. But in the end better sense prevailed and both the sides reached an agreement on the burials of the slain coalminers.