At 8:15 p.m., this Tuesday, March 14, there was a strong explosion in the mining area located in the village of El Cajón, in the municipality of Sutatausa, in Cundinamarca. At the time of the emergency, at least 30 miners were inside the mines, 11 of them lost their lives.
According to the report delivered by the Cundinamarca Fire Department Delegation, the first explosion occurred at the Las Golondrinas mine, which affected a total of five mines.
On the morning of Wednesday, March 15, the governor of Cundinamarca, Nicolás García, confirmed that the death toll from this emergency amounted to 11, according to information provided at the Unified Command Post.
For his part, Captain Álvaro Eduardo Farfán Vargas, departmental delegate of the Cundinamarca Fire Department, pointed out that “when the explosion occurred, there were approximately 30 miners inside the mines, seven of whom managed to get out by their own means, four who manage to be referred to care centers. After that, an average of 23 trapped miners remain, two of whom have just been rescued. We continue to rescue 21 miners who are spread out in the mines affected by the explosion”.
In turn, the general director of the National Risk Management Unit (UNGRD), Javier Pava Sánchez, indicated that, although the number of deaths reached 11, this could increase to 23 as the rescue work progresses.
So far four lifeless bodies have been rescued, while 17 people remain trapped in the mines. Therefore, the teams of the National Mining Agency, Red Cross, Civil Defense and Departmental Risk Unit continue with the rescue work, hand in hand with the Sutatausa authorities.
Given what happened, President Gustavo Petro spoke through his Twitter account and gave guidelines to address this difficult situation. “What happened in the Sutatausa mine was an unfortunate tragedy, where 11 people died. We are making every effort with the Cundinamarca government to rescue the trapped people alive. A hug of solidarity to the victims and their families”.