At least 15 killed and 11 injured after an illegal gold mine collapses in Venezuela

Officials from several government agencies in Venezuela are carrying out rescue operations this Wednesday ‘Bulla Loka’ my From Bolivar state (in the south, bordering Brazil), where a landslide on Tuesday buried dozens of people and, according to local officials, At least 15 dead and 11 injured.

Dozens of people were working in an open pit mine when suddenly an avalanche occurred, burying many miners.While others managed to jump in panic.

The Deputy Minister of Risk Management and Civil Protection, General Carlos Pérez Ampueda, published a video of the incident on X and spoke of a “huge number of victims”, without specifying an official figure.

“We don’t have exact numbers right now,” he said. AFP Yorgi Arcienega, Mayor of Angostura Municipality, which covers Umbrella, ,25 people are said to have died and 15 were injured., This figure was later updated.

Relatives were waiting for news in Puerto Guacara in La Paraguay, about 750 km southeast of Caracas and from where boats left for the “Bulla Loca” mine.

Relatives of one of the dead miners burst into tears as they carried his body in a wooden box in the trunk of a truck. They took him to a small house with a tin roof where his mother hugged other relatives.,

“My little brother, my little brother,” a girl cried as she stood beside a sheet-covered body in the packed room at the wake.

A group of youths on motorcycles were moving along with the trucks carrying the dead bodies brought from the mine. Many people recorded the funeral proceedings with their cell phones.

The injured were taken to the hospital in the state capital, Bolivar CityAccording to government estimates, about 200 people used to work about 200 km away from this mine.

A relief and rescue team from Caracas is also headed to the area to assist in search efforts.

,We are conducting damage assessment and recovery analysis and working on a survey“Ampueda said earlier AFP,

In La Paraguay, many business establishments did not open their doors.

Last December, at least 12 people were killed in a mine collapse in the indigenous community of Ikabaru in the same state, where a “partial collapse” had occurred a few days earlier, but there were no deaths.

area of mining bow in Bolivar, which covers a part of AmazonHas an area of ​​112,000 km2 and has large reserves gold, diamonds, iron, bauxite, quartz And Colton.

It is an area exploited by the Chavista regime, but also taken over by illegal groups and criminal gangs.

Activists condemn “ecocide” in the region and the exploitation of children and women, who work long hours without protection.

Last year, Venezuelan armed forces evicted about 14,000 illegal miners from Yapacana National Park, located in the neighboring state of Amazonas.

Venezuela has abundant mines of gold, copper, diamonds and other precious metals. Many workers do their work in poor safety conditions.

The boom in mining activity south of the Orinoco River has become a lifeline for surrounding towns and has attracted thousands of unemployed people from across the country.

In the south of Amazonas and Bolivar states, illegal mining is increasing and criminal gangs involved in gold smuggling are on the rise, according to officials and critics of Nicolás Maduro’s dictatorship.)

(With information from EFE, AFP and AP)