Islamabad, Jan 8, (dpa/GNA) – Three miners who had been trapped under the debris, after a landslide at a gold-mining site in Afghanistan’s north-eastern Badakshan province, have been rescued alive, local officials said on Sunday.
These men spent more than 60 hours without food and water under the debris in Yawan district, until they were finally rescued by local people and authorities late on Saturday.
They had dug a tunnel to extract gold, but the tunnel collapsed on Thursday, hours before an earthquake jolted the region.
On Sunday, the rescued miners were transferred via a military helicopter to the provincial hospital, in the capital Faizabad.
Local authorities say the rescue mission was difficult in the mountainous area, due to the lack of equipment and a difficult road.
Photos from the rescue mission show that dozens of people, including the Taliban authorities, were trying to remove the debris with basic equipment in their hands.
Badakhshan province has gold and lapis lazuli mines, which have been illegally and unprofessionally extracted by local people for their daily needs for years.
Despite having untapped natural resources, Afghanistan’s economy is devastated due to more than four decades of war.
With the Taliban’s return amid the chaotic withdrawal of international forces in August 2021, the country has further plunged into poverty and unemployment, causing mass migrations.
GNA