At least 13 Colombian miners dead after explosion

BOGOTA, Feb 4 (Reuters) Explosions in a Colombian coal mine has killed at least 13 workers in the northeastern province of Norte de Santander and another 25 were feared dead, an official told Reuters today.

Rescue and recovery attempts, which had been complicated by deadly gases underground, resumed at daybreak today after being suspended late the night before. The miners had been trapped underground near the town of Sardinata.

''It is impossible that those still in the mine are alive due to the high amount of poisonous gas in the mine shafts. It would be a miracle if they are alive,'' said Carlos Garcia, head firefighter leading the rescue attempt.

Rescue workers face the potential danger of more explosions, local officials said.

The La Preciosa mine, where the blasts occurred yesterday, produces coal for domestic consumption.

Norte de Santander is an area contested by left-wing rebels and far-right paramilitary militias fighting a decades-old guerrilla war. Both groups, branded terrorists by Washington, fight over control of cocaine smuggling routes from the province into neighboring Venezuela.

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