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28 bodies recovered from collapsed gold mine in Colombia
Twenty-eight bodies had been rescued from an illegal gold mine that collapsed on Thursday, killing at least 40 people, civil defence authorities said on Friday.
Twenty-eight bodies had been rescued from an illegal gold mine that collapsed on Thursday, killing at least 40 people, civil defence authorities said on Friday.
Twenty-eight miners` bodies have been rescued and 32 wounded people have been taken to nearby hospitals, a rescue worker said.
Villagers and emergency crews used tractors and shovels in a desperate attempt to find survivors after the roof of the abandoned gold mine fell in, trapping people under tonnes of earth, authorities said.
The mine, located some 300 km west of the capital, collapsed after some 100 nearby villagers trying to eke out a living went in to look for the precious metal, civil defence spokesman Eduardo Ar Evalo said.
“ We know that 40 died inside the tunnel and that another 60 are presumed missing,” Arevalo said. Hundreds of firemen and emergency workers immediately rushed to the scene at the Amapola mine, in Filadelfia in the Western Andes, using excavators to try and dig out any survivors, but were slowed by fears of another landslide.
“Few miners managed to survive, because most of them were in the mine shafts,” he explained.
“We were searching for gold when the ground just fell on top of us. I managed to escape because I was near the mouth of the shaft, but a lot of people were trapped inside,” Survivor Danilo Bedoya told nation Al Radio Caracol.
Bureau Report
Villagers and emergency crews used tractors and shovels in a desperate attempt to find survivors after the roof of the abandoned gold mine fell in, trapping people under tonnes of earth, authorities said.
The mine, located some 300 km west of the capital, collapsed after some 100 nearby villagers trying to eke out a living went in to look for the precious metal, civil defence spokesman Eduardo Ar Evalo said.
“ We know that 40 died inside the tunnel and that another 60 are presumed missing,” Arevalo said. Hundreds of firemen and emergency workers immediately rushed to the scene at the Amapola mine, in Filadelfia in the Western Andes, using excavators to try and dig out any survivors, but were slowed by fears of another landslide.
“Few miners managed to survive, because most of them were in the mine shafts,” he explained.
“We were searching for gold when the ground just fell on top of us. I managed to escape because I was near the mouth of the shaft, but a lot of people were trapped inside,” Survivor Danilo Bedoya told nation Al Radio Caracol.
Bureau Report