At least 13 people have lost their lives and another seven have been injured after the collapse of a slope that buried a gold mine located in the Colombian department of Nariño, in the western area of the country.
The director of Disaster Risk Management (UNGRD) of the department of Nariño, Gabriel Ocaña, has confirmed that the seven injured miners have been transferred to different regional health centers, according to the broadcaster Caracol Radio.
The incident took place in a gold mining area of the village Puerto Rico, between the municipalities of Policarpa and El Peñol, where rescue teams and heavy machinery have been deployed to try to locate the trapped victims.
Colombian authorities have launched an investigation in order to clarify the causes of the landslide, which buried the workers who were inside the mining operation. The governor of Nariño, Luis Alfonso Escobar, initially mobilized firefighters to address the incident.