A landslide at an unauthorized gold mine in Colombia’s Nariño department killed 14 people and injured seven on Monday, October 19, while rescuers faced difficult conditions reaching the remote site.
The collapse happened in the rural Chambero sector of Santa Bárbara de Iscuandé, where about 30 people were reportedly working. Regional officials later said search and rescue work had ended. Local reports said four of the injured were in serious condition.
Officials said 12 women were among the dead. Rainforest surrounds the area, and it is mainly reachable by boat or small aircraft. Security concerns linked to armed groups also made the response more difficult.
Nariño Governor Luis Alfonso Escobar urged Colombia’s national government and mining authorities to speed up efforts to bring informal and small-scale mining under formal rules. He said stronger oversight could improve working conditions and safety. The incident came after a separate mining disaster in Policarpa, also in Nariño, killed 13 people in August.
The two collapses have renewed attention to the dangers faced by miners working outside the official rules in the department.