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7 killed in gold mine explosion in Colombia

Xinhua, September 15, 2011

• At least seven miners were killed, and two others injured when an artisanal gold mine exploded on Wednesday in the town of Atrato - Yuto of the northeastern Colombian Department of Choco.

  Euclides Pino, mayor of the municipality, told local media that the accident occurred during the early hours of Wednesday. Two miners who got injured were taken to the nearest hospital.

  "What the municipal authorities confirmed is the death of seven miners and two injured in the mine, which had about 18 people when an avalanche came and sealed completely the mine", he added.

  Pino said that the Red Cross and Civil Defense workers are trying to find other potential victims while his officers investigate the mine permit for precious metal mining.

  The Colombian Institute of Geology and Mining said in a statement that the incident which occurred around 8:25 a.m.local time (13:25 GMT) was caused by the collapse of a slope.

  Carlos Ivan Marquez, director of the National Risk Management agency, said that they "have recovered the bodies of seven people," and noted that there is no information on missing persons.

  So far this year, mine accidents in Colombia have caused over 30 deaths, mostly by landslides in the tunnels.

  In 2010 alone, there were 84 mine accidents registered in Colombia that killed 173 workers. The most serious one occurred in a mine in the northwestern town of Amaga, where 73 workers died in June.

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