Colombia, January 27: At least 21 people have been killed and five others injured after an explosion in a coal mine in northeastern Colombia, the country’s Institute of Geology and Mining, Ingeominas, reported.
So far four bodies have been taken out of the mine, according to AFP.
The remaining miners are 1,200 meters (almost 4,000 feet) below ground and the rescue operation joined by civil defense, Red Cross and the army was expected to last through Thursday.
The explosion was blamed on an accumulation of methane gas in the mine.
Such a blast “is like a kind of cannon shot and creates a flame within the mine and obviously has tragic consequences,” said William Villamizar, the governor of the Norte de Santander province, where the mine is located.
Sardinata Mayor Yamile Rangel Calderon said the mine is known as La Preciosa (The Precious One).
“This is one of the oldest mines in the region and one that has some of the best safety and quality controls,” she said. “They have been exporting coal for many years.”
But the Ministry of Mining and Energy said the pit would be shut down, at least temporarily, and Mining Minister Carlos Rodado went to La Preciosa to visit its managers and victims’ families.
A 2007 explosion in the same coal mine killed 31 people, closing it for five months so a larger ventilation system could be installed for the expulsion of methane.
——–Agencies