At least 17 people were killed and nine others injured after a landslide struck a gathering in Pakistan's Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, authorities said, adding that a search and rescue operation continued on Tuesday.

The landslide took place on Monday in Mohmand district's Safi town near the Afghan border, The Express Tribune reported.

"Huge pieces of marble from a hill fell on a routine gathering of 50-60 people (on the foothill)," the district's Deputy-Commissioner Iftikhar Alam said, adding that heavy machinery had been dispatched from nearby districts to accelerate the rescue operation.

"Five ambulances and a recovery vehicle have been dispatched from Peshawar to Mohmand and the PDMA is in close contact with the district administration and concerned agencies," the director-general of the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) said.

Dozens were still feared trapped under the rubble as army troops were assisting the district administration to rescue them.

Mohmand, one of seven former semi-autonomous tribal regions in Pakistan, is famous for marble reserves.

In 2015, some 12 labourers were killed after a marble mine collapsed.
(IANS)