Caracas [Venezuela], October 15: At least 14 people have died after torrential rainfall led to the collapse of a Venezuelan gold mine.
The National Risk System announced on Monday that it had launched recovery efforts at the mine in the southern El Callao municipality, with bodies found in three separate shafts.
Venezuela has deposits of copper, diamonds and other precious minerals, but unsafe working conditions are common in a poorly regulated industry.
A command post had been set up in the town of El Callao, about 850km (528 miles) southeast of the capital, Caracas, to coordinate operations, Bolivar state's Operational Zones for Damage Assessment and Needs Analysis agency said.
The deaths occurred in three different shafts of the Cuatro Esquinas de Caratal mine, the agency said in a statement, as flooding caused the collapse of the mine's vertical shafts. It said two miners managed to escape unharmed from one of the shafts, which was about 100 metres (328 feet) deep.
Source: Qatar Tribune
