Coal Mine Blast Claim 7 Lives in Colombia
With the uncovering of four more bodies on Friday, the number of fatalities reported from an explosion in a coal mine in Colombia reached seven, according to authorities.
Alvaro Farfan, the director of the fire department for the central Cundinamarca district, announced the new toll.
Around 90 kilometers (55 miles) north of the country’s capital Bogota, in the Cucunuba municipality, the mine was destroyed by the bomb overnight on Wednesday into Thursday.
Authorities claimed they believed gas trapped in the mine detonated in some of its compartments.
At first, the rescue teams discovered three bodies and four workers missing. On Friday, the bodies were eventually found.
Social media users posted videos of a sinkhole spewing smoke in the middle of the night as persons carrying flashlights and wearing civilian clothing cautiously approached.
The largest producer of coal in Latin America is Colombia.
In Colombia, mining accidents are common, especially in the illicit mines in Cundinamarca and other regions in the center and northeast of the nation.
Between 2011 and May 2022, the coal mines and energy ministry recorded 1,262 such incidents, with an average of more than 100 fatalities every year.
One of the biggest such catastrophes in recent memory in Colombia occurred in mid-March in Sutatausa municipality, also in Cundinamarca, and resulted in the death of 21 individuals.
