KUNDUZ:At least 30 people were killed and seven others injured when a gold mine collapsed in north-eastern Afghanistan on Sunday.
The incident happened in Kohistan district of Badakhshan province. Villagers had dug a deep shaft in a riverbed to search for gold. They were inside when the walls fell in. It was not clear why the shaft collapsed, but the provincial governor’s spokesman Naik Mohammad Nazari said the miners were not professionals.
Badakhshan is a remote, mountainous province in northeast Afghanistan bordering Tajikistan, China and Pakistan. The impoverished region is prone to landslides, particularly in the colder months when heavy snow blankets the province.