At least 14 people have died and seven others have been injured after an illegal gold mine collapsed in southwestern Colombia. Reports also indicate that 12 to 15 other miners are missing.
The incident occurred yesterday in the rural area of Chambro in the state of Nariño; Luis Alfonso Escobar, the governor of Nariño, announced that the search and rescue operation had ended, but a disaster management official said that there were still reports of missing people due to the difficulty of communicating with the area.
According to Al Jazeera, the site of the incident is located amidst dense rainforest and is only accessible by boat or small aircraft.
Local authorities have said that the mine was an informal one. Informal and unsupervised mining is common in some rural areas of Colombia, and the lack of adequate safety facilities increases the risk of fatal accidents.
In August, 13 people died in a similar incident in the municipality of Policarpa, in the state of Nariño.
