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CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — At least 14 people died in a mine
collapse in El Callao, Venezuela after torrential rains hit the
southeast region, authorities said on Monday.
A command post was set up to “coordinate operations to recover
the 14 deceased,” led by Brig. Gen. Gregory González Acevedo,
head of the Operational Zones for Damage Assessment and Needs
Analysis in Bolívar state.
The deaths occurred in three different shafts of the Cuatro
Esquinas de Caratal mine, in the town of El Callao, about 850
kilometers (528 miles) southeast of Caracas, the agency reported
on its Instagram account.
Search and rescue operations began with “the pumping out of all
the shafts in the area to lower the water level, and then
evaluating rescue efforts” for the people trapped inside the
gold mine, the statement added, without providing further
details.
The death toll is based on other miners' testimony, firefighters
in El Callao said on social media. Flooding caused the collapse
of the vertical mines, known as ravines.
El Callao is a town where life depends on gold mining. Most of
its 30,000 inhabitants participate directly or indirectly in
mining.
Venezuela is full of copper, diamond and other precious metal
mining, where unsafe working conditions are common in the poorly
regulated industry.
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