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Little hope for 53 missing miners in Colombia

19 June 2010 03:40 (UTC +04:00)

Baku â€“ APA. With rescue efforts continuing Friday, the mining minister held out little hope for any of the 53 workers missing after a coal mine explosion in the western part of the country, APA reports quoting â€œLos Angeles Timesâ€.

President Alvaro Uribe was expected to visit the area Saturday to comfort victims’ family members, many of whom were holding vigils outside the blackened remains of the entrance to the Carbones San Fernando mine in Amaga, near Medellin. A buildup of methane was blamed for the explosion and fire. At least 19 miners are known to have died.

The San Fernando mine is underground, but Colombia’s biggest-producing mines are open pit operations in the north. High prices for Colombia’s relatively low-sulfur and high-energy coal have caused an influx of investment and expansion in output in recent years.

Colombia now ranks among the world’s five biggest coal exporters with Australia, Indonesia, China and South Africa.

At a news conference Friday, Uribe said the mine would remain closed for two weeks while the government investigates "irregularities." Mining Minister Hernan Martinez said possible safety violations included improper ventilation and the lack of a methane detector.

The force of the explosion, which occurred during a shift change late Wednesday, as well as the heat generated by a subsequent fire and a heavy remaining concentration of gas, left little hope for finding survivors, Martinez said. Six miners were injured in the blast and fire.

"A rain of fire fell on top of me," survivor Walter Restrepo told reporters, describing how he was engulfed in flames as he emerged from the mine at the end of his shift.