Colombia: Blast at gold mine leaves six dead

Authorities are investigating the cause of the blast.

Bogota, Jul 29: An explosion at an unlicensed gold mine in Colombia left six people dead and one injured, officials said on Saturday.

The blast occurred yesterday evening in the town of Los Asientos in northwest Antioquia department, the local mining ministry said.

It said two of those killed were consultants and the other four were mine safety experts.

It was not immediately clear why they were inspecting the unlicensed mine.

Authorities are investigating the cause of the blast. In the first five months of the year, Colombia suffered 28 mining accidents that left 23 people dead and another 33 injured, according to the Bogota government. Most of those accidents happened in coal mines.

PTI