WATCH: At least 23 dead, several injured after ‘illegal’ gold mine collapses in Venezuela

Venezuela: In a tragic incident, at least 23 people lost their lives while several others were injured after an ‘illegal’ gold mine collapsed in Venezuela. The accident took place at an open-pit gold mine in Central Venezuela, confirmed reports.

According to reports, the incident took place on Tuesday after a wall of earth collapsed while dozens of people were at work.

Talking to AFP, a local official said that a total of 23 bodies have been recovered from “Bulla Loca” mine in Venezuela’s Bolivar state.

A video of the incident was shared by Carlos Perez Ampueda, Deputy Minister of Civil Protection, on his handle on X (formerly Twitter). However, he did not mention the exact numbers.

It is noteworthy mentioning that over 200 miners were present at the site when the gold mine collapsed in Venezuela. While some of the workers managed to flee from the scene, others got trapped inside the mine.

Reportedly, relatives of the trapped miners have gathered at the La Paragua, urging government’s assistance in the matter. They asked the government to send aircraft to remote locations to send help for the trapped miner at the earliest.

One of the miners, Miner Carlos, managed to flee from the scene and arrived at a medical in La Paragua. He called the condition at the mine “terrifying.”

Bolivar state secretary Edgar Colina Reyes said that the injured ones are swiftly being shifted to a hospital for immediate medical attention. Reyes further said that emergency services like military, firefighters and other were immediately called to the area for evaluation of the situation.

Notably, the Bolivar state in Venezuela is abundant in gold, diamonds, iron, aluminum, quartz, and Colton.

Back in the year 2016, the Venezuela Government had established a mining development zone in the country. Mining operations are being carried out in the area since then.

#21Feb | Cumpliendo instrucciones del Vicepdte. Sectorial AJ. @ceballosichaso1 y en coordinación con el Gob. del Edo. Bolívar Ángel Marcano, funcionarios del SNGR junto a Organismos de Seguridad ciudadana y efectivos de la ZODI Bolívar, realizan Operaciones de Salvamento… pic.twitter.com/6FWE5SiE22

— cperezampueda (@cperezampueda) February 21, 2024

(With Inputs from Agencies)