ISLAMABAD: At least 19 miners were killed and more than a dozen still trapped on Tuesday after a rockslide at a marble quarry in northwest Pakistan, officials said.
A huge boulder fell on the labourers in Mohmand district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province overnight on Tuesday, local police chief Tariq Habib said. A senior official from Mohmand district, Hamid Iqbal, confirmed the death toll.
At least seven more bodies were retrieved from the rubble on Tuesday morning when the rescue was resumed after a brief pause, Habib said. Twenty injured people were rescued, Muhammad Arif, provincial minister for mines and minerals development, told AFP.
At least 20 to 25 workers might still be trapped, local administration chief Iftikhar Ahmed said, amid fears that the death toll could rise.
White marble
The quarry is located in the Ziarat area of Mohmand, along the border with Afghanistan.The area is known for its high-quality white marble, sold in Pakistan and exported to other countries. Labourers often rest at the bottom of the mountains after long working hours.
Officials said an investigation was still underway to determine the cause of the cave-in.