19 Pakistan miners killed and dozens trapped after a rock-slide

At least 19 people have died and dozen others still trapped following rockslide in the mountainous Mohmand district in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, near the border with Afghanistan.

The provincial minister for mines and minerals development in the country, Muhammad Arif confirmed the news on Tuesday morning.

Al Jazeera report indicated that boulders of white marble came crashing down on workers Monday evening blocked the entrance and burying laborers inside.

About 19 bodies and 20 injured were pulled out and 20 more miners were still believed to be trapped under the rubble as of Tuesday morning.

Hundreds of laborers working in coal, emerald, marble and salt mines often rest at the bottom of the mountains after long working hours.

Dozens of miners are killed each year in different safety-related incidents in Pakistan due to poor safety standards in the mine fields.

At least 43 miners died in 2011 in the Sorange district of Balochistan following a blast at a coal mine. About 16 miners were also killed in a coal mine in Marwar, Baluchistan, after a methane gas explosion in 2018.

Meanwhile, officials have launched a probe to determine what caused the recent cave-in.