t least nine workers were killed and two others injured when a marble mine collapsed in the Palo Dheri area of Rustam tehsil in Mardan district on Tuesday. The incident occurred when a section of the mine gave way, trapping workers under the debris.

Rescue officials said one of the worker is still missing. The search operation was still on by Friday. According to initial reports, the victims belonged to Mohmand, Swabi, Buner and Mardan districts.
Witnesses said the labourers had only recently returned to work after the Eid holidays. Before formally resuming operations, they were cleaning the mine when it caved in.

“Everything happened within a few seconds,” said a volunteer at Palo Dheri Welfare Trust. “The workers were inside the mine, clearing the debris when the structure collapsed, catching them underneath.”

Local volunteers were the first to respond, alerting Rescue 1122 immediately after the incident. Emergency teams rushed to the site and launched a rescue operation, pulling out eleven workers from the rubble. While two were rescued alive, nine succumbed to their injuries.

Zeeshan, an eyewitness, said the workers had gathered in one place and were having tea. “It was around 4:30 in the afternoon. The mine collapsed suddenly,” he said. “Because they had all been sitting together, the rescue teams were able to locate most of them quickly. However, one of the workers is missing.”

Tehsil municipal administration, police and district administration officials reached the site next. They carried the injured to nearby hospitals.

Rescue officials in Mardan confirmed that efforts to locate the missing worker are under way. Heavy machinery is being used to remove the debris. However, progress has been slow on account of the risk of further collapse.

Rescue 1122 officials say a tunnel-like section of the mine, where the missing worker was initially believed to have been trapped has been cleared.

Authorities have since identified two additional points within the mine where the missing worker may have been trapped. Work to clear these sections has begun, but officials say it may take considerable time due to the presence of large, unstable boulders.

District Emergency Officer Syed Shoaib Mansoor visited the site and held meetings with the mine manager, eyewitnesses and family members of the missing worker. The focus was on identifying the likely location of the trapped worker and expediting the rescue.

Rescue 1122 teams remain deployed at the site with ambulances, pickup vehicles, disaster response units and essential equipment. The operation is being carried out in coordination with the district administration, mine rescue teams and local welfare organisations. The emphasis now is on safety and preventing more casualties.

For the families of the victims, the tragedy has brought immense grief and uncertainty. Fazl Mannan, the father of the missing worker, has said he rushed to the site from Mohmand as soon as he received news of the incident.

“My relatives and some other community members are here,” he said. “People from our area, as well as workers from some political groups, have offered vehicles and assistance. My only prayer is that we recover my son’s body soon. We want to take him back to our ancestral home.”

Mining accidents are not uncommon in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where mineral-rich districts often have unsafe extraction practices. Similar incidents have previously been reported in Mohmand, Kurram, Orakzai and Dara Adam Khel.

Safety standards in many mining operations remain inadequate. Workers frequently face life-threatening situations, with limited access to protective equipment and oversight mechanisms.

District Emergency Officer Syed Shoaib Mansoor has said that the debris contains massive boulders. ”Heavy machinery and expert teams are busy in removing them. The search operation will continue in the mine debris until the missing worker’s body is recovered.”

The writer is a multimedia producer. He tweets @daudpasaney