At least 70 feared dead in Colombia mine blast
Source: Agencies |
June 18, 2010, Friday
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MORE than 70 Colombian miners were trapped and feared dead yesterday in an overnight coal mine explosion that killed at least 16 miners in what could be one of the country's worst mining accidents.
The gas explosion occurred just after midnight at the San Fernando mine in Amaga town in northwestern Antioquia Province, far from the major coal operations run by large companies such as Drummond and Glencore near the Caribbean coast.
Shocked relatives sobbed and hugged each other waiting for news and anxiously pressed rescue workers for details as hearses ferried bodies from the blast wreckage.
"This is a huge tragedy, initially we have reports of 72 people trapped and now we have 16 bodies recovered," President Alvaro Uribe said.
Luz Amanda Pulido, a national disaster official, told local radio there was "practically no" chance of pulling out miners alive.
A new accumulation of gas temporarily halted attempts to reach miners trapped deep below the ground, rescue workers on the ground said.
Colombia, the world's No. 5 coal exporter, has enjoyed a boom in energy and mining investment under Uribe, who sent troops to drive back leftist rebels who once targeted oil pipelines for attacks.
Hundreds are killed or injured every year while prospecting for gold or coal in often makeshift and small mines in Colombia.
The gas explosion occurred just after midnight at the San Fernando mine in Amaga town in northwestern Antioquia Province, far from the major coal operations run by large companies such as Drummond and Glencore near the Caribbean coast.
Shocked relatives sobbed and hugged each other waiting for news and anxiously pressed rescue workers for details as hearses ferried bodies from the blast wreckage.
"This is a huge tragedy, initially we have reports of 72 people trapped and now we have 16 bodies recovered," President Alvaro Uribe said.
Luz Amanda Pulido, a national disaster official, told local radio there was "practically no" chance of pulling out miners alive.
A new accumulation of gas temporarily halted attempts to reach miners trapped deep below the ground, rescue workers on the ground said.
Colombia, the world's No. 5 coal exporter, has enjoyed a boom in energy and mining investment under Uribe, who sent troops to drive back leftist rebels who once targeted oil pipelines for attacks.
Hundreds are killed or injured every year while prospecting for gold or coal in often makeshift and small mines in Colombia.
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