At least 18 killed, more trapped in Pakistan mine rockslide
Peshawar, Pakistan — At least 18 miners were killed and more than a dozen were still trapped on Tuesday after a rockslide at a marble mine in northwest Pakistan, officials said.
Boulders of white marble came crashing down on workers on Monday evening in the mountainous Mohmand district in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, near the border with Afghanistan.
“So far 18 bodies and 20 injured have been pulled out after a rockslide at a marble mine,” Muhammad Arif, the provincial minister for mines and minerals development, told AFP.
He said around 20 more miners were still believed to be trapped under the rubble with a rescue mission underway.
Laborers often rest at the bottom of the mountains after long working hours.
A senior official from Mohmand district, Hamid Iqbal, confirmed the death toll.
Article continues after this advertisementPakistan’s mines are notorious for poor safety standards. Dozens of miners are killed each year in different safety-related incidents.
At least 43 miners were killed in Sorange district of Balochistan in 2011 as a result of a blast at a coal mine.
