LANDSLIDE KILLS MINERS AT COLOMBIAN GOLD MINE

A landslide struck a gold mine in Santa Bárbara de Iscuandé, southwestern Colombia, on Monday morning, killing miners and leaving others trapped, according to local authorities. Death toll figures range from at least nine to at least 15. Estimates placed about 30 or more people at the mine when mud and rock engulfed it. The collapse happened at around 8.30am local time near the rural community of El Chambero, in Nariño department. Álex González, Nariño’s secretary of peace and human rights, said the landslide took the workers by surprise.

Firefighters, Civil Defence personnel, police and paramedics joined residents searching with shovels and other basic tools. Regional authorities coordinated assistance with the Colombian military. Colombia’s Ombudsman’s Office requested aircraft to help rescue victims and transport injured people. It also urged authorities to prepare nearby hospitals and consider sending the Benkos Biojó hospital ship from Guapi. The National Mining Agency said difficult terrain and security conditions had kept its specialised rescue teams from reaching the mine.

At least nine victims reportedly belonged to the same family. The Ombudsman’s Office warned that armed groups in the area could endanger rescuers and called for safe access. The Colombian military reported an operation in Santa Bárbara de Iscuandé four days before the landslide involving a faction of the former FARC guerrilla group; it said troops recovered two children and seized weapons, while two adults surrendered. In May, nine workers died in an explosion at a coal mine in Sutatausa, where inspectors had warned weeks earlier of a “potentially dangerous gas build-up”. The National Mining Agency said it believed methane and other gas accumulations caused that explosion.