8 miners killed in coal mine collapse in NW Pakistan

By Aamir Latif

KARACHI, Pakistan

At least eight miners were killed and over two dozen injured when a coal mine collapsed in northwestern Pakistan, apparently due to heavy rainfall, local officials said Sunday.

According to a Pakistani army spokesman, 100 soldiers are currently engaged in rescue operations in hopes of rescuing four miners still trapped in the mine, located in the Orakzai tribal region near the Afghan border.

According to Zubair Khan, a regional administrative official, the coal mine collapsed Saturday night due to heavy rainfall.

Some 27 miners, many of them injured to varying degrees, have already been rescued by the army and local first-responders, Khan said.

Since Friday, unusually heavy rainfall -- accompanied by flash floods in several areas -- has killed at least 25 people across the country.

Pakistan has a history of deadly mine accidents, many of them the result of poor safety standards.