Death toll of Mohmand landslide reaches 17

Rescue operation is underway as dozens are still trapped under the rubble

PESHAWAR:

At least 17 people are now confirmed dead and nine others injured after a land slide in Mohmand district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa on Monday. 

According to the director-general of the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA), the rescue operation is ongoing with efforts focused on saving more lives.

“Five ambulances and a recovery vehicle have been dispatched from Peshawar to Mohmand and the PDMA is in close contact with the district administration and concerned agencies,” the DG said.

On September 7, the district’s Deputy-Commissioner Iftikhar Alam told Anadolu Agency that the incident occurred in Safi town which is near the Afghan border when a massive landslide struck a gathering.

Dozens were feared trapped under the rubble as army troops were assisting the district administration to rescue them, according to Alam.

“Huge pieces of marble from a hill fell on a routine gathering of 50-60 people [on the foothill],” he had said, adding that heavy machinery had been dispatched from nearby districts to accelerate the rescue operation.

Fauzee Khan, a local journalist, said that darkness and lack of heavy machinery were hampering the rescue operation.

Mohmand, one of seven former semi-autonomous tribal regions in Pakistan, is famous for marble reserves.

In 2015, some 12 labourers were killed after a marble mine collapsed in Mohmand.