Death Toll Rises to Eight from Afghanistan-Pakistan Border Crossing Landslide

According to officials on Saturday, the death toll has risen to eight due to a massive landslide that buried a fleet of trucks earlier this week as they waited to cross from Pakistan to Afghanistan.

Earlier this week, a massive landslide occurred at the Torkham border crossing as more than 120 trucks were waiting to cross.

The initial report said that at least two people were killed and eight others were wounded, while today, a new report said that eight people were killed and eight others were injured.

“So far, we have recovered seven dead bodies,” said Pakistani rescue services spokesperson Bilal Faizi, adding that “an operation is ongoing to recover an eighth body” from the debris.

“Our workers are close to the eighth dead body; they can see it,” said Faizi. “We had removed 60 per cent of the debris, but yesterday another landslide occurred in the same area, so the rescue operation was delayed”.

The cause of the landslide was unclear, although one official remarked that heavy machinery had been used on a border post extension project in the neighbouring hills for months.

Heavy rain could also contribute to the incident; meanwhile, officials said road traffic resumed on Thursday.

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