At least 30 Colombian miners killed in explosion

Sardinata, Colombia, Feb 5: Explosions killed at least 30 workers in a Colombian coal mine in the northeastern province of Norte de Santander and another was feared dead, officials said.

Rescue and recovery attempts, hampered by deadly gases remaining in the shafts of the La Preciosa mine after Saturday's blasts, resumed at daybreak yesterday after being suspended Saturday night.

Thirty bodies were recovered from the mine near the mountain town of Sardinata while one miner remained underground and was presumed dead.

''They are lowering small-sized earth-moving machines into the mine to look for the remaining body,'' said Luis Alberto Gomez, mayor of the neighbouring village of El Zulia, where some of the victims lived.

Carlos Garcia, head firefighter leading the rescue attempt, told Reuters it would be a miracle if anyone survived.

Rescue workers face the danger of more explosions at the small, privately owned mine due to combustible gases, local officials said.

''I can't believe what is happening. I would not wish this on anyone,'' said Jorge Vergara, brother of two of the trapped miners, sadness etched on his face as he stood at the entrance of the mine with other victims' family members and friends.

They said they wanted to know what caused the explosion and if it could have been prevented.

President Alvaro Uribe visited the site at midday, assuring the crowd: ''The government will follow this case very closely.'' He said law enforcement officials will investigate to see if the mine met safety standards.

Nearby, rescue workers studied maps of the mine, got oxygen tanks ready and put on masks and helmets, preparing to descend.

La Preciosa produces coal for domestic consumption.

A similar accident occurred in El Zulia when a coal mine explosion killed 15 people in 2001.

REUTERS
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.

REUTERS SRS BST0512