October 23, 2022, 10:42 PM
October 23, 2022, 10:42 PM
Three miners have been trapped since Saturday in an underground gallery in Ecuador where a rock and mud slidethe state National Risk Management Service (SNGRE) reported on Sunday.
“Due to the collapse of the ‘Compañía Minera Florida del Señor de Roma’ mine, three people were trapped by rocks and mud inside the well miner,” the relief agency said in a statement provided to AFP.
The mine is located in the town of Zaruma, in the coastal province of El Oro (southwest and bordering Peru), one of the Ecuadorian areas rich in gold.
The SNGRE noted that water and rocky materials slid to a depth of 120 meters, where the three people who carry out carpentry activities were.
“His health conditions are unknown,” added the entity.
Rescuers from various institutions and mining personnel continue with the tasks to rescue the trapped, the SNGRE indicated.
“Search efforts will be intensified.As long as the conditions inside the mine allow it, let’s talk about lifelines, in this case oxygen, water, ventilation, which is fundamentally required to be able to carry out this work,” said the governor of El Oro, Mirtha Aristeguieta, in statements published by the national newspaper El Universo.
The Zaruma area presents subsidence at cause of tunnels opened by illegal miners operating alongside regulated operators.
Two alleged illegal miners were found dead in a gallery last January when one of them was being searched for.
