Colombia illegal gold mine collapse kills 14, injures seven

An illegal gold mine collapse in southwestern Colombia has killed 14 people and left seven others injured, regional authorities said on Monday, after search-and-rescue efforts ended.

It collapsed in the rural Chambero sector of Santa Bárbara de Iscuandé municipality in Nariño province, where an open-pit mine was operating without permits, The Associated Press reported.

The search for survivors had been called off, said Luis Alfonso Escobar, Governor of Nariño. Escobar called on the government of Colombia and mining agencies to speed up the regulation of informal and artisanal mining and increase safety measures, Reuters reported.

“This emergency once again exposes the dangers of illegal mining,” said the Nariño government, as reported by the AP.

The remote rainforest location of the town means that it is accessible only by boat or small aircraft. This makes dispatching emergency services more difficult.

It comes after a mining accident in August in the town of Policarpa in Nariño, where 13 people were killed. The two accidents have claimed the lives of 27 people in the department in less than three months, regional authorities said.