MANSEHRA  – At least 12 miners were killed Wednesday when a phosphate mine caved in as a result of landslide in Kalidhar area here on Wednesday.
The incident took place when miners were having lunch inside the mine in the mountainous Tarnawi area, some 45 kilometres northeast of Abbottabad.
It was a huge landslide. Twelve of them were buried alive, the police said.
Police and rescue teams arrived at the scene and with the help of local people recovered the bodies. Five of them belong to the same family.
Police said the men who were trapped were poor labourers and that local residents were digging with shovels to help rescue them. Syed Imtiaz Hussain, the top government official in Abbottabad, said continuous rain was hampering rescue efforts.
Mines in Pakistan are notorious for poor safety standards.
At least 43 workers were killed last March when explosions triggered a collapse in a coal mine in Balochistan.