Rescuers have recovered 23 bodies after an earthen wall collapsed on workers at an illegally operated mine in Bolívar state.
At least 23 people were killed when an earthen wall collapsed at an illegally operated gold mine in central Venezuela while dozens of people were working there.
Local official Yorgi Arciniega told AFP news agency on Wednesday that about 23 bodies had been recovered from an open-pit mine known as Bra Roca in the jungles of Bolívar state.
The accident happened on Tuesday.
Carlos Pérez Ampueda, deputy minister of civil protection, released a video of the incident on X, noting that there were “huge” casualties, although he did not give figures.
Video showed a wall of earth slowly collapsing onto people working in the shallow waters of an open-pit mine.
Some managed to escape, while others were swallowed up.
Officials said about 200 people were believed to be working at the mine, which is a seven-hour boat ride from the nearest town of La Paragua.
#21December | Cumpliendo instrucciones del Vicepdte. AJ by sector. @ceballosichaso1 Make adjustments with Gob. Del Ed. Bolívar Ángel Marcano, ZODI Bolívar's safe organizational management and effective functioning, the reality of Salvamento… pic.twitter.com/6FWE5SiE22
— cperezampueda (@cperezampueda) February 21, 2024
Bolívar state's civil safety secretary Edgar Colina Reyes said the injured were being taken to a hospital in Ciudad Bolívar, the state capital four hours away from La Paragua, 750 kilometers southeast of the capital Caracas.
In La Paragua, lonely relatives waited on the beach for news of the miner's whereabouts.
“My little brother, my little brother, my little brother,” one person shouted as they watched the bodies being removed from the boat.
“We would like to ask for helicopter support to transport the injured,” the father of three, who was waiting for news of his brother-in-law's whereabouts, told AFP.
Reyes said the military, firefighters and other organizations were “moving into the area by air” to assess the situation.
Rescue teams are also being flown in from Caracas to assist in the search, he said.
The Bolivar region is rich in gold, diamonds, iron, bauxite, quartz, and coltan. Apart from state-run mines, the illegal mining industry is also booming.
“This was meant to happen,” resident Robinson Basanta told AFP of the dangerous working conditions of the miners, most of whom live in extreme poverty.
“This mine produced a lot of gold…people go there out of necessity to make ends meet,” he said.
In December last year, at least 12 people were killed when a mine collapsed in the indigenous community of Ikabar in the same area.