ISLAMABAD, Dec. 30 (Xinhuanet) -- The Pakistani soldiers Friday morning retrieved 23 bodies of miners under a landslide in northwestern Pakistan and another one was recovered Thursday evening.

    The state-run APP news agency quoted an army statement as saying that 24 people were buried under landslide when they were exploring mines and precious stones in Sput Mali, a remote area of Kohistan district, which is some 350 kilometers northeast to the North West Frontier Province capital of Peshawar.

    After the accident, the report said, the Pakistan army immediately dispatched a rescue team comprising infantry troops, army engineers and doctors along with helicopters to recover bodies of miners. Army troops were assisted by locals in the rescue operation.

    The lofty Sput Mali mountains are abounded with peridots, a pale green variety of chrysolite used as gemstone. Deposits of thegemstone are not only extracted through machines and tools but also subjected to dynamite blasts for rich quantities. Enditem