PICTURES: Rescue team frees 11 trapped miners in Nicaragua
Eleven of the 24 workers trapped in a Nicaragua gold mine have been rescued and crews are working to free others.
Interior vice minister Carlos Najjar said today the miners were dehydrated but in good health and more were expected to be rescued in the coming hours.
He said the men were walking out of the mine on their own, checked by paramedics and taken to a clinic in the town of Bonanza, about 260 miles north east of the capital Managua
Earlier, authorities said 20 of the 24 miners had been located and had communicated with rescuers at the El Comal mine. The miners were trapped after collapsing earth blocked a shaft in the mine.
Rescued miner Marvin Urbina, 34, said he and some of his fellow miners saw an avalanche of mud and rock coming their way. They stuck to the walls of the mine but at least four of their co-workers were crushed by the mud and rock streaming down the shaft, he said.
“I asked God to let me live and he listened to me and now I will serve Him,” an emotional Mr Urbina said.
Hundreds of relatives and fellow miners prayed outside the gold and silver mine, as rescuers lined up wooden ladders along a 200ft-long tunnel leading tos where the 20 were trapped in a kind of cave.
Commander Javier Amaya said the rescue plan involved groups “of five or 10 miners entering the mine on wooden ladders, tying themselves off and going in until they reach them”.
Teams with dogs helped locate the 20 miners, who were able to communicate with rescue workers, telling them they did not know the whereabouts of the other four miners. Two other miners were rescued earlier.
Jorge Hernandez, 25, said he learned his brother Michael, 24, was one of those trapped while watching television in Managua and rushed to Bonanza.
“We’re praying to God with all of our souls so that my brother and the other men can be rescued alive and well,” he said. His brother moved to Bonanza from Managua last year to work in the mine.
The mine is operated by Colombian company Hemco. The trapped miners are freelances allowed to work in the firm’s concession if they sell any gold they find to the firm.
Company spokesman Gregorio Downs said Hemco had warned miners about the danger of working in the El Comal area, especially after two died in a rain-caused landslide last month.
“We live by extracting mineral from Hemco. They told us digging here was risky, but sometimes one is willing to risk it for a few more cents,” said Absalon Toledo, leader of the informal miners.
Authorities did not receive word of the landslide until late on Thursday after the mine lost contact with the workers, who were believed to be about 165ft below the surface.
Mr Downs told the government’s news website that the company initially had contact with the trapped miners, but apparently there were more slides inside after the initial one.
According to the website of Nicaragua-based Hemco, the company has mined in the north Atlantic municipality since 1995 and employs 532 workers, who process 700 tons of material a day.
The company, majority owned by Colombia’s Mineros, says it produces more than 2,500lbs of gold a year and is Nicaragua’s 12th largest exporter.
