Gold mine collapse kills at least 14 in southwest Colombia
Officials said the mine lacked permits and safety infrastructure, and as many as 15 miners were still missing as rescue efforts continued.
- On Monday, an open pit gold mine collapsed in Nariño Province, killing at least six miners in the remote municipality of Santa Barbara de Iscuande.
- Nariño governor Luis Alfonso Escobar described the site as an 'informal' mine, noting that hundreds of small mines in Colombia operate without government permits and some are controlled by rebel groups.
- Disaster response official Jorge Tovar Castillo reported 12 to 15 additional miners missing following the accident. Santa Barbara de Iscuande is surrounded by dense rainforest and accessible only by boat or small aircraft.
- Escobar stated that "our priority is to save lives, accompany families and guarantee an opportune response to this painful tragedy." Municipal authorities are handling the response despite difficult communications.
- The tragedy underscores risks posed by informal mining, which remains widespread across Colombia. Tovar Castillo said authorities are awaiting updated reports to determine if additional support is needed for ongoing rescue efforts.
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Illegal mining is one of the main sources of funding for powerful armed groups.
Of those killed, 12 were women. Local authorities call on the national government to advance the processes of formalization of farms in order to avoid further tragedies.
The Ombudsman's Office calls for air support to evacuate the wounded from the avalanche at the gold mine, while the National Mining Agency awaits security guarantees to deploy its rescuers.
Illegal mining is one of the main sources of financing for the powerful armed groups present in Nariño, border region with Ecuador. In informal mines, workers often operate under poor security measures. "There are already fourteen people who have died (...) it is a reality that mining (illegal) is generating violence," said Alex González, Nariño's secretary of peace and security, to the Caracol chain. The search for survivors ended, the official…
In Colombia, at least 14 people were killed in a mine accident and seven others were injured.
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