Bogota: The number of miners killed by a flash flood in northwest Colombia earlier this week has risen to 13, local officials have said.
Heavy rains caused a river to overflow Wednesday, swiftly inundating a mining camp in a rural part of Abriaqui, a town in the Colombian department of Antioquia, Xinhua news agency reported.
“The number of deaths from torrential flooding has risen to 13,” the local Administrative Department of Risk Management tweeted, citing a report from the Unified Command Post, which was installed in Abriaqui after the flood to help relief and recovery efforts.
“Operative units are continuing the search and rescue of a missing person,” the agency said.
The governor of Antioquia, Anibal Gaviria, overflew the disaster area by helicopter on Thursday to coordinate rescue work and warned residents there of the potential for more flooding due to the rainy season.
Wednesday’s flood occurred suddenly, and miners at a camp belonging to the El Porvenir gold mine had no time to evacuate to higher ground, news reports said.
Members of the Fire Department, Civil Defense, Red Cross, Army, National Police and Mining Rescue have been working to rescue survivors and recover bodies, the reports said.
–IANS
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