Rescue workers using heavy machinery recovered 14 more bodies from a collapsed marble mine in northwestern Pakistan on Tuesday, bringing the death toll to 22, officials said.
The reason for entering the cave could not
be determined. Mining accidents are common in Pakistan, where safety
regulations are often, ignored.
An estimated 35 miners were loading marble
on trucks Monday when a large rock fell on them at a mine in Mohmand District,
near the Afghan border.
Khateer Ahmed, head of the state-run
emergency services in the North West, said the first eight bodies had been
exhumed’ on the same day, but were recovered on Tuesday after a daylong rescue
operation.
"Many miners are still trapped under
the rocks on a large scale," he said.
According to provincial labor minister
Shaukat Yousafzai, nine miners were injured’ in the cave.
There was speculation among locals that an
explosive device had been detonated’ to extract marble, triggering a rock
explosion. An investigation is under way to determine the cause of the caveat,
officials said.
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