Relatives break down in tears after receiving the body of a worker who died in a mine collapse Photo: AFP
More than 20 people have died after an illegal gold mine collapsed in the southern jungles of Venezuela. Yesterday, Wednesday, local officials reported this information. An operation is underway to ascertain whether anyone else is trapped alive in the mine.
The incident happened last Tuesday in the ‘Bulla Loca’ mine in Bolivar state, Venezuela. It takes about seven hours to reach the area by boat from the nearest town of La Paraguay. Family members of those who work in those coal mines are waiting in La Paraguay.
As many as 23 bodies had been recovered, Angostura municipality mayor Yorzi Archiniega told AFP on Wednesday night. Of these, 15 bodies arrived in La Paraguay by boat. Eight more bodies are being taken there.
Carlos Pérez Ampueda, Brazil’s deputy minister for civil protection, posted a video of the incident on social media. He said many people were injured there. But he did not mention any number. Officials believe that around 200 workers were working in the mine at the time of the incident.
In the video, some men were working in the shallow water of the mine when suddenly a mud wall collapsed on them. Some managed to escape but many were trapped.
Bolivar state civil security minister Edgar Colina Reyes said the injured workers were being taken to a hospital in Ciudad Bolivar, the region’s main city, four hours from La Paraguay.
Meanwhile, the family members of the miners are waiting on the coast to find their relatives. One of them burst into tears saying ‘Amar bhai, amar bhai, amar bhai’ while taking a dead body off the boat.
Resident Robinson Basanta felt that such incidents were not unusual given the unsafe conditions that miners work in.
The Bolivar region is rich in gold, diamonds, iron, bauxite, quartz and coltan. In addition to state-run mines, there are also illegal mining operations.
At least 12 people died in a mine collapse in the same region in December last year.
Last year, Venezuela’s armed forces evicted nearly 14,000 illegal miners from Yapacana National Park in the neighboring Amazonas state.
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