The death toll in the marble mine collapse in Pakistan rose to 26 after four of the injured died on Wednesday, PTI reported. The search operation for seven missing people continued on Thursday.

Six units of the marble mine in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa near the Afghanistan border collapsed on Monday night. Around 45 labourers were busy in excavation operations when the mines caved in, the Dawn newspaper reported.

Majority of the deceased include labourers and a few others who had gathered at the foothill in Safi town, about 85 km from provincial capital Peshawar. Large boulders had rolled onto unsuspecting passersby, with the mine collapse being initially reported as a rockslide in the local media. 

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government announced a compensation of Rs 9 lakh for kin of the deceased and Rs 1 lakh for the injured.

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Fatal incidents are not uncommon in Pakistani mines. In February, at least 10 workers were killed in a rockslide at a marble quarry at Buner, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. In 2018, 30 workers were killed in explosions at two coal mines near Quetta, Balochistan.

At least 43 miners were killed in Sorange district of Balochistan in 2011 as a result of a blast at a coal mine.