Accidents in two coal mines in Colombia’s central Cundinamarca department left five miners dead and at least six trapped, Caracol Radio reported Wednesday.
The police commander of the region, Colonel Fabio Castañeda, explained that an accumulation of gas at the entrance of the El Roble mine caused a rockfall, trapping at least six miners.
Castañeda added that regional authorities have launched a rescue operation to free the trapped miners.
The Colombian Institute of Geology and Mines (Ingeominas) confirmed that in a separate incident two miners day died of suffocation in a mine in the municipality of Lenguazaque.