An underground gold mine in Riosucio in Colombia’s Caldas province has flooded and trapped at least 15 workers.
The mine in north-western Colombia, which is operating illegally, collapsed when flooding was caused by the holes that were drilled to extract gold.
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Government emergency response agency UNGRD’s Luis Pineros said that the agency is carrying out search-and-rescue operations.
Some of the workers are believed to be trapped at depths of 17m, while others are 10m underground.
ABC quoted the National Mining Agency (ANM) saying that the cave-in occurred due to gases in the deep, vertical tunnels.
Government figures revealed that with output of more than 55,000kg in 2013 Colombia is a major producer of the mineral gold.
The National Mining Agency is in the process of checking to know the company that owns the mine.
