Six workers have been killed and another two seriously injured following a landslide at a quarry in the Sargodha District of Punjab Province, Pakistan, on Wednesday 27 September 2017. The incident reportedly happened while the men were setting explosive charges along a quarry face, though there are no reports of any explosions, suggesting the incident was caused by a weakness in the rockface rather than a premature detonation. This incident brings to nine the number of people who have died in quarry accidents in Sargodha District in the last two weeks.
The approximate location of the 27 September 2017 Sargodha landslide. Google Maps.
Pakistan has a rapidly growing population, having risen from 33.7 million in `1951 (when the first national census was undertaken) to 207.8 million in 2017. This has driven major expansion and construction in all of the country's cities, which in turn has created an immense demand for building materials, including a variety of quarried rocks. Unfortunately this rise in demand has been fed by a fast growing but poorly regulated excavation industry, with little regulation of licenced quarries and many completly unlicenced operations running alongside them.
See also...
Follow Sciency Thoughts on Facebook.