Officials reported that the death toll from Colombia coal mine blast has risen to seven with the discovery of four more bodies.
The head of the firefighting department in the central Cundinamarca region, Alvaro Farfan, provided the updated toll. Initially, rescue teams found three bodies and reported four workers missing.
However, on Friday, officials stated that these missing workers had been found, bringing the death toll to seven.
The blast ripped through the mine overnight Wednesday into Thursday in Cucunuba municipality around 90 kilometers (55 miles) north of the capital Bogota.
Authorities said they suspect pockets of gas trapped in the mine detonated.
Videos of Colombia coal mine blast shared on social media showed smoke billowing from a sinkhole in the dead of night while people dressed in civilian clothes carrying torches approached carefully.
Colombia is Latin America’s largest coal producer.
Mining accidents are frequent in Colombia, particularly in illegal mines in Cundinamarca and other parts of the country’s center and northeast.
The mines and energy ministry registered 1,262 such accidents between 2011 and May 2022 that left an average of more than 100 people dead per year.
An explosion in mid-March in Sutatausa municipality, also in Cundinamarca, left 21 people dead and was one of the worst such tragedies in Colombia in recent years.
