Landslide in Badakhshan kills five gold miners

Five people were killed early Tuesday morning after a hillside collapse in the Shahri Buzurg district of Badakhshan, local sources confirmed.

The incident took place in the Pastaw area of Awez village, where the victims were engaged in small-scale gold extraction inside underground tunnels.

Mir Ahmad, Commander of the 4th Border Battalion, Shahr-e-Bozorg District, Badakhshan said the miners were residents of Yaftal district and were working in informal mining activities when the collapse occurred.

Preliminary findings suggest that unstable soil conditions combined with a lack of safety equipment were the main causes of the deadly incident.