An explosion at a coal mine buried 14 miners in Colombia. “We do not lose faith and hope that these 14 people who are detained there can be found alive,” the mayor of the municipality of Zulia, on the border with Venezuela, told RCN on Tuesday.
The head of the search operation, Catalina Gheorghe, spoke of a “very difficult rescue”. She assumed on Tuesday that the rescue work would “probably take a few more days”. According to the state mining authority, a mixture of “methane and coal dust” had exploded in the mine.
An employee who was outside the mine at the time of the explosion was taken to hospital with burns.
Feverish search for the buried
Rescuers worked frantically to reach the victims, while their families waited near the accident site for news of their loved ones. “We are all concerned because there are 14 miners in the mine and they are not telling us if they are alive or dead,” Belén Contreras, the wife of one of the victims, told AFP.
Last year, 148 people died in mining accidents in Colombia.
Source: Krone
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
