Colombia Gold Mine Collapse Kills 14, Leaves 7 Injured
The open-pit mine gave way along the Iscuande River in the municipality of Santa Barbara de Iscuande, on the country’s Pacific coast, in Narino department. Workers at the site were buried when a section of the pit caved in, according to Alex Gonzalez, Narino’s secretary of peace and human rights.
Gonzalez told a Colombian television network that 13 bodies were recovered in Santa Barbara de Iscuande, while the body of another victim was in neighboring Guapi, in Cauca department.
“So far, there are 14 confirmed deaths. Thirteen bodies have been recovered in the town of Santa Barbara de Iscuande, and one body is in the municipality of Guapi. In addition, seven people are injured,” Gonzalez said.
The Narino Governor’s Office worked with the Colombian Army’s Third Division to airlift the four seriously injured to Tumaco for medical treatment.
Early reports put the toll at nine, but it climbed to 14 as rescue operations continued. Gonzalez said the search has ended and no one else is reported missing.
UN Human Rights Colombia on Tuesday called on authorities within the National Disaster Risk Management System to support the injured and affected families. The mine sits within the territory of the Iscuande River Basin Community Council.
The organization added the following in a post on X:
“We urge the State to implement all necessary prevention actions, through territorial transformation measures and investigation and sanctioning of these illegal activities in the territories, which are affecting the people who are forced to work in those spaces without any kind of guarantees, in addition to causing harm to the environment and the health of the communities,” the organization said on US social media platform X.
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