23 Killed Over Illegal Open-pit Gold Mine Collapses in Venezuela
- CBS News
Venezuela – More than 20 people died when the mud wall of an illegal gold mine collapsed in the jungles of southern Venezuela, officials said on Thursday, revising down an earlier figure.
The incident happened Tuesday at the "Bulla Loca" mine in the state of Bolivar, a seven-hour boat ride from the nearest town, La Paragua, where family members waited anxiously for news.
Officials gave conflicting accounts of the number of dead, as reported from CBS site.
The Bolivar state's secretary of citizen security, Edgar Colina Reyes, said 16 people were dead. In a video, President Nicolas Maduro put the toll at 15, with another 11 injured.
Ilustrasi Tambang emas tradisional di Mali
- AP Photo/Baba Ahmed
"I convey my condolences to the families and friends of these people who unfortunately died in this accident," Maduro said on state television.
Earlier in the day, Yorgi Arciniega, mayor of the Angostura municipality, told AFP that about 23 bodies had been recovered, including 15 that had arrived by boat in La Paragua and about another eight on their way.
Deputy Minister of civil protection Carlos Perez Ampueda published a video of the incident on X and referred to "a massive" toll, though providing no numbers.
Some 200 people were thought to have been working in the mine, according to officials.
The video showed dozens of people working in the shallow waters of an open pit mine when a wall of earth slowly collapses on them. Some managed to flee while others were engulfed.
Miner Carlos Marcano, 71, called the situation at the mine "terrifying."
In La Paragua Wednesday, he told The Associated Press, "One would not want a colleague, a human being, to die like that. Some of us made it. There are a few wounded, but there are still a number of dead who have not been rescued and are buried there."
Mayor Arciniega, who had earlier spoken of 15 people injured, said four had been brought by boat to La Paragua by Wednesday afternoon to receive treatment.
Colina Reyes said the injured were being transported to a hospital in the regional capital Ciudad Bolivar, four hours from La Paragua, which is 460 miles southeast of the capital Caracas.
