At least 24 people were killed in an avalanche while hunting precious stones in a remote mountain range in northwest Pakistan, police said. The incident happened on Tuesday in the rugged Karakoram range in Kohistan district, local police chief Ashfaq Ahmed told AFP Friday. "There were around 120 people extracting gemstones when the avalanche struck, burying a number of them," Ahmed said. "Twenty-four were killed and the rest are fine. Locals have dug all the bodies out of the snow," Ahmed said. He said a military helicopter had been despatched to the hard-to-reach area and had so far brought back 12 bodies to Dassu, the main town in the region, where they were handed over to relatives.Police only learned of the avalanche late Thursday, when residents of the far-flung village of Sputmali in the highlands arrived at their police post. Kohistan is located in the region of Pakistan that was devastated by a massive earthquake in October, which killed more than 73,000 people. Since then, the mountainous area has been jolted by more than 1,500 aftershocks. Ahmed said it was possible