Lima, Peru – At least 27 workers have died in a fire at a gold mine in a remote area of southern Peru, authorities said on Sunday.
A short circuit caused the fire, which broke out Saturday in a tunnel inside the La Esperanza 1 mine in the Arequipa region, police and the public prosecutor’s office said.
Public prosecutor Giovanni Matos told channel N television that there were “27 dead inside the mine.”
Local media said the blaze started after an explosion at the mine in the remote Condesuyos province, a 10-hour drive from the city of Arequipa, the regional capital.
The explosion ignited the wooden supports inside the mine.
The victims were 100 meters below ground, local media said.
News of the fire was only published Sunday once police had gathered details of those who died.
Rescue teams were trying to secure the mine before removing the victims’ bodies.
“We have to make the place where the dead are safe so we can enter it and recover the bodies,” said Matos.
There have been no reports of survivors, either injured or still trapped inside the mine.
This is one of the worst mining accidents in recent years in Peru, the largest gold producer in Latin America.
A man who did not identify himself named his 51-year-old brother Federico Mamani as one of the victims.
Family members headed to the nearest police station for information on their relatives.
The mine, operated by Minera Yanaquihua, is a legal enterprise.
The company has been operating mines in Peru for 23 years.
Mining is one of the engines of the Peruvian economy, accounting for more than eight percent of GDP.
Despite the large number of illegal mines in Peru, accidents such as this are relatively rare.
But in 2020, four miners died after becoming trapped when a mine in Arequipa collapsed.
Peru is the world’s second largest producer of silver, copper and zinc, according to official sources.
It is also Latin America’s top producer of zinc, tin, lead and molybdenum.
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© Agence France-Presse