HARIPUR: A young operator of excavator machine was killed when a landslide from hillock used for quarrying for a crush plant fell on him in Khanpur tehsil, police and eyewitnesses said here on Tuesday.

They said that some workers of Khitab Gul crusher plant, Suraj Galli, were busy collecting the quarried stones from base of the hill early in the morning when part of the hill caved in.

The worker later identified as Tauseef Shah, 25, a resident of Mardan district, was buried alive along with some machinery under the landslide. Other workers ran on noticing the landslide and remained unhurt.

After three hours of efforts the area people and rescue workers recovered the body of operator. A dumber truck, two excavators and a crane were also damaged in the incident.

The other workers initially termed it a routine quarryingand did not give access to locals to the site who reached there from the neighbouring areas. The police had not registered the case till Tuesday afternoon for unknown reasons.

The residents said the labourers involved in collection of quarried material were not provided with safety equipment.

Published in Dawn, June 23rd, 2021