PESHAWAR, Dec 30: Bodies of avalanche victims were recovered from a gemstone quarry in the Sput Mali area of the Kohistan district on Friday, officials said.

An official at the Jalakot police station in Kohistan told Dawn by phone that the Army Aviation helicopters ferried 24 bodies and a wounded miner from Sput Mali to Dassu, the district headquarters.

He said that local people recovered bodies from the gemstone mine, which were then airlifted by the helicopters. The victims were all locals.

Officials said that miners were buried alive after an avalanche hit a peridot mine in the mountainous area, about 500 kilometres from Dassu.