Colombian authorities are investigating the fate of 15 miners who were caught in a crash in a gold mine in the municipality of Neira, Caldas department (center), official sources informed yesterday.
The director of the National Mines Agency (ANM), Juan Miguel Durán, assured that the emergency care protocol was activated due to the accident, which took place in an underground mine “where it is estimated that 15 miners are missing”.
“A mining rescue team from the National Mining Agency traveled to the area,” the official added on Twitter.
The Ministry of Environment of Caldas explained that the landslide took place in the village (village) El Bosque.
“According to preliminary information from the authorities, the miners could be caught in the area. The Fire Brigade is moving to the emergency room,” the agency said on its social networks.
In the emergency, informs the authorities in the region for Efe, firefighters from the city of Irra, in the neighboring department of Risaralda, which is closer to the accident area than the municipal headquarters of Neira, are participating.
Also, aid organizations, the army, police and officials from the town hall of Neira, a coffee municipality located in the central Colombian mountain range, travel to the area.
Rescuers will take motor pumps to the area to extract water from the mine, which appears to have been flooded because it is very close to the second-largest Cauca River in Colombia.
On February 20, three people died and two others were injured in another accident at a mine in Buriticá, in the department of Antioquia (northwest).