Authorities say 22 rescued from Afghanistan mine collapse 

Twenty-two people have been rescued after a mine collapsed in Afghanistan, capping an hours-long effort to reach them.

The mine in the Dara-i Sof Payin district of Samangan province in northern Afghanistan had collapsed late on Saturday.

Esmat Muradi, the spokesman for the province’s governor, Mullah Muhammad Shoaib, had initially told the AFP news agency that thirty-two people had been trapped.

“Excavators and rescuers have been working since early morning but unfortunately the opening to the mine is not cleared yet,” he said early Sunday.

Shoaib later said 22 people had been rescued and no more miners were believed to be trapped. He said there were no deaths in the incident.

A video of the rescue showed heavy machinery moving debris and rescuers working by torchlight to reach those trapped, although locals had expressed concern over the lack of professional rescue teams deployed.

Sources familiar with the site had previously cast doubt that there would be any survivors, citing the presence of gas in the mine, its narrowness and the likely buildup of pressure.

The type of mine involved was not immediately clear, although marble, copper, zinc, lead, gold, gemstones and coal are commonly mined in Afghanistan, which has been governed by the Taliban since its 2021 takeover.

However, there has long been little oversight over Afghanistan’s mining industry and deadly accidents are relatively common.

At least 10 miners died in February 2022 after being trapped underground when a coal mine collapsed in the northern province of Baghlan.

In June 2020, seven workers were killed after a gas blast caused a cave-in at a mine in Samangan.

And a year earlier, at least 30 people died when a gold mine collapsed in Badakhshan province.

Another gold mine collapsed in January last year in the province, although the number of casualties remains unknown.