Nine Killed In Gold Mine Landslide In Southwestern Colombia

BOGOTA, Oct 20 (NNN-Xinhua) -- At least nine people were killed in a landslide at a gold mine in the municipality of Santa Barbara de Iscuande, in Colombia’s southwestern district of Narino, local authorities said on Monday.

Colombia’s Ombudsman’s Office called for urgent government support for search and rescue operations.

“Several people are buried as a result of a landslide. They were mining, and the report we have so far is nine dead,” Alex Gonzalez, the department’s secretary of peace and human rights, told local media.

The Ombudsman’s Office warned that the critical public order situation in the area was hampering emergency response efforts.

It called for the immediate mobilisation of human, technical and logistical resources to assist the victims.

“We urgently call on national and local authorities to make available all the necessary human, technical and logistical resources,” it said in a statement, stressing that saving lives was the priority.

The office also called on the armed forces to provide air support for rescue operations and the transportation of the injured, as well as to activate the hospital network to ensure medical care for those affected.

It proposed considering the relocation of the hospital ship Benkos Bioho, currently stationed in Guapi, to provide medical assistance at the landslide site.

The office also called for the National Institute of Legal Medicine to be deployed to identify the bodies and ensure they were handled with dignity.

It further urged risk management agencies to coordinate search, rescue and humanitarian assistance efforts.

--NNN-XINHUA