A landslide has hit a gold mine in the northern Colombian municipality of Barranco de Loba, causing its collapse and leaving 14 miners trapped at a depth of 180 meters (over 590 feet), local authorities said, APA reports.
Manuel Ramos, mayor of Barranco de Loba, said that the miners were trapped hundreds of meters underground due to a landslide.
"There are exactly 14 people who are below approximately 180 meters of depth. A landslide ... occurred, so we activated the municipal risk management committee. We are going to activate a unified command post to be able to help our brothers who are in that underground sinkhole," he said on late Wednesday as quoted by the local newspaper. “14 miners are currently trapped over the internal collapse in the Fogaje mine,” he also added.
According to another official, the collapse was caused by a landslide with a depth of four meters. Rescue services are operating at the site.
Later, the National Mining Agency said that all 14 miners had been rescued from the debris.
"We confirm the successful rescue of 14 miners, who were trapped in the underground gold mine in the Bolivar Department," the agency wrote on its Twitter page.
Three weeks ago, a similar incident occurred at a coal mine in the Colombian municipality of Boyaca, with three miners having been rescued from the debris at a depth of 160 meters.
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