What we know about the tragedy of at least 15 missing minors in Caldas

In the early hours of Saturday, work to rescue at least 15 miners missing from a gold deposit continued in the village of El Bosque, in the municipality of Neira (Caldas), in the coffee region of Colombia.

The government secretary of this department, Jhon Jairo Castaño, indicated that had a difficult communication with the emergency agencies and the authorities present on site of urgency.

“There are communication gaps there. The place is not easily accessible to reach the specific place where the events occurred: You not only have to travel by vehicle on a complex road, but then you have to take some kind of motorcycle on rails that lead to the exact place where the events happened ”explained the manager on Radio Nacional de Colombia.

However, the search for minors continues and a Unified Command Post (PMU) has been created with which the actions of rescuers and authorities are coordinated.

<< We arrive on the site to coordinate all the actions in order to link the relief agencies and also the security agencies: police and army which generate a strategic action to find the missing persons in this mine. All the institutional capacity installed through a unified command post of the road to be able to find these people, which is our wish ”, added Castaño.

Meanwhile, The National Police Emergency and Disaster Special Operations Unit (Ponalsar) also visits the site to join the rescue efforts.

“We have coordinated the arrival of our group from Ponalsar to support all search and rescue activities that allow us to save these people. We are ensuring all the coordination with the institutional capacities of our national police force to accompany this tragic event ”, reported Colonel Eiver Fernando Alonso, police commander of the department of Caldas, in Caraccol Noticias.

The officer noted that it would be at least 15 minors who were trapped after landslides due to heavy rains in the region.

“The information we have received so far relates to around 15 people who have been trapped on the banks of the Cauca River. At the moment, we are coordinating with the authorities and emergency agencies: civil defense, firefighters, ”he said.

The Ministry of the Environment of Caldas confirmed, in the afternoon of this Friday March 26, that there are at least 15 people trapped in the gold mine, after a landslide that apparently caused the structure to collapse.

“Register a landslide in a mine in the village of El Bosque, municipality of Neira. According to preliminary information from the authorities, minors could be trapped in the area. The firefighting team is heading to the emergency site, the environmental authority reported.

The incident occurred around 2:30 p.m. this Friday, for reasons apparently related to the winter season currently raging in Colombia. According to a report by local newspaper La Patria, a heavy downpour fell in the area which not only caused the landslide but also inundated the mine, preventing affected workers from escaping.

The situation forced at least three firefighters to react to provide support in personnel and rescue equipment such as motor pumps.. The first, reported the Department’s Risk Management Unit, were those from the municipality of Neira and volunteers from the district of Irra, which then received the support of the Riosucio Rescue Corps, the National Mines Agency (ANM), the army and the police.

According to the vice-president of the association of traditional miners of Marmato, Caldas, told Caracol Radio: “the situation is very difficult, but the relief agencies of Supía, Marmato, Neira and Riosucio, among other towns in the municipalities of Caldas and Risaralda, are already taking care of it ”.

After a meeting between members of the firefighters, civil defense and the ANM, It has been determined that the rescue activities will be carried out by 22 people, including a geologist, a mechanic and nine rescuers from the agency.. These must arrive by rail from the region, as the climatic situation makes access by road difficult, the newspaper El Espectador reported.

This was confirmed by the president of the said government entity, Juan Miguel Durán, who, through a message posted on Twitter, assured that, “At this time, the emergency care protocol is activated after an accident in an underground gold mine, located in Neira, Caldas and the ANM Colombia mining rescue team is relocated, where 15 miners are said to have disappeared. “

Likewise, the entity underlined that “the authorities carry out the appropriate inspection and investigation actions corresponding to the legal status of the site”, because it is suspected that it is an illegal exploitation site.

According to the agency’s latest mining emergency report, between January and December last year, 153 accidents occurred in Colombia that left as a result, a total of 171 people died, this is the highest figure since 2010, when deaths were 173. The figures also contrast with those of 2019, where there were 114 disasters and 82 deaths.

For this year, the latest figures show eight emergencies that left 14 dead and one seriously injured, in January alone. This, despite the fact that the ANM issued, throughout 2020, a total of 2,089 ongoing mine safety and rescue certificates, as part of a prevention initiative.

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