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Venezuela: State authorities said that 14 people were dead after the collapse of an illegally operated open-pit gold mine in central Venezuela on Wednesday. It added that an undetermined number of people could be trapped. Several people were injured in this incident.
Bolivar state Gov. Angel Marcano said local reporters that 14 bodies had been recovered so far and authorities knew of at least 11 people injured. He said “We continue to carry out rescue work”, with relatives demanding swift rescue efforts. The accident happened in the Angostura municipality on Tuesday, when a wall collapsed at a mine known as Bulla Loca, which can only be reached by an hours-long boat ride.
Officials feared the death toll could rise into the dozens. Angostura Mayor Yorgi Arciniega said late Tuesday that he planned to take “some 30 caskets” to a community near the mine. Relatives of the miners gathered in La Paragua, the closest community to the mine, to ask the government to send aircraft to the remote location to rescue the injured and recover bodies.
Karina Ríos, whose daughter’s father was trapped in the collapse said,“We are here waiting, please, for the government to support us with helicopters, planes, anything.” Rios said, “A lot of people have died there, a lot of people have been injured. Why don’t they support us, where are they?”. he was concerned that the bodies could decompose quickly because of the conditions in the area.
In 2016, The Venezuelan government established a massive mining development zone spanning the middle of the country to add new revenues to its oil industry as well. Since then, mining operations for gold, diamonds, copper and other minerals have expanded rapidly within and outside the region.
Many mines operate outside the law or at the margins. They provide lucrative jobs for ordinary Venezuelans, but the conditions are brutal. 71-year-old Miner Carlos Marcano, who survived the accident, said, “Nobody would want their co-worker, a human being, to die like this. Some of us made it. Some are injured, but there are still many dead who could not be saved and are buried there.
