27 dead in a mine fire in Peru

by time news

2023-05-07 18:28:31

At least 27 workers have died as a result of a fire in a gold mine that was operating legally in a remote area of ​​the Arequipa region, in southern Peru, the authorities of the Andean country reported. A short circuit would have caused the fire in the tunnel of the La Esperanza 1 mine, in the province of Condesuyos, according to members of the Police and the Prosecutor’s Office present at the scene.

“The information we have from the police station is that there are 27 deaths inside the mine,” prosecutor Giovanni Matos told television channel N. The fire, apparently followed by an explosion, would have spread on Saturday, but only until this Sunday did the police have confirmation of the victims.

The flames devoured the wooden props of the gold deposit, which operated legally, according to the first versions collected by the authorities. At the moment there are no official reports of workers injured or trapped in the place.

The fire is one of the worst mining accidents in recent years in Peru, the largest gold producer in Latin America. The rescue forces are securing the place to extract the bodies from the mine, some 10 hours away by car from the city of Arequipa.

One of the dead was identified by his relatives as Federico Mamani, 51 years old. “We found out that there are 27 workers” perished, his brother told channel N, who avoided identifying himself. The victims would have been buried at a depth of about 100 meters in a straight line, according to local media in Arequipa.

Several relatives came to the closest police station to the scene of the tragedy to request information about the rescue efforts. The tunnel affected by the fire is operated by Minera Yanaquihua, a medium-sized company that has been in the area for 23 years and exploits some 15,000 ounces of gold per year, according to information on its website.

Mining is one of the engines of the Peruvian economy and has an 8.3% share of GDP. Peru is the second largest producer of silver, copper and zinc worldwide, and the largest producer of gold, zinc, tin, lead and molybdenum in Latin America, according to official data. Despite the high degree of informality in mining activity, accidents are not frequent. In 2020, four workers died after being trapped inside an artisanal mine affected by a landslide, also in Arequipa.

#dead #fire #Peru

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