Pakistan rockslide: Toll rises to 19 after rescue personnel find six more bodies, five still trapped
Five more people are believed to be trapped, according to a emergency service spokesperson.
The toll from a rockslide at a marble quarry in northwest Pakistan rose to 19 after six more bodies were pulled out of the debris and two of the injured died, Dawn reported. An emergency services spokesperson said at least five more people were still trapped in the rubble.
The rockslide occurred at the quarry in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Mohmand district in the intervening night of Monday and Tuesday, Tariq Habib, district police chief of Mohmand district told Al Jazeera.
A statement released earlier in the day from the Provincial Disaster Management Authority director general said that nine injured persons had been rescued. “An operation to rescue those trapped underneath the rubble is currently underway,” the director general of the disaster management authority said. “Five ambulances and one recovery vehicle have been sent to Mohmand from Peshawar.”
The district police chief said that usually a large number of labourers are employed at the quarry but “luckily a majority had finished work and returned home.” Officials said an inquiry was being carried out to establish the cause of the cave-in.
Meanwhile, Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly and Pakistani Muslim League chief Shehbaz Sharif expressed grief over the deaths of people in the incident.
Heartfelt sympathise with the bereaved families who lost their loved ones in rockslide incident in Mohmand district. Hope the govt will extend its help and financial assistance to the labourers’ families in these difficult times.
— Shehbaz Sharif (@CMShehbaz) September 8, 2020
Pakistan Peoples Party chief Bilawal Bhutto Zardari asked the provincial government to fulfill its duty by rescuing those trapped and by giving medical assistance to those hurt. “Immediate and effective steps are needed to prevent such incidents from occurring in the future,” he said.
Rescue 1122 said it was conducting search operations to find missing people after the district administration quoted local residents saying 25 people were missing.
The quarry is situated at the Safi Subdivision in the Ziarat area of Mohmand and is famous for its high-quality white marble.
In 2011, at least 43 miners were killed in Balochistan’s Sorange district because of a blast at a coal mine. In 2018, 16 miners were killed after a roof of a coal mine collapsed due to methane gas explosion in Marwar, Baluchistan.