Colombia illegal gold mine collapse kills 14 people

A dredge used for illegal mining sits near the Tambopata National Reserve in Puerto Maldonado, Peru, on August 11, 2026 [File: Guadalupe Pardo/AP]

The collapse of an illegal gold mine in southwestern Colombia killed 14 people and injured seven others, local authorities said on Monday.

The accident took place in the rural Chambero sector of the Santa Barbara de Iscuande municipality, located in the department of Narino.

Search and rescue operations have concluded, Narino Governor Luis Alfonso Escobar said.

Jorge Tovar Castillo, a disaster response official in Narino, said that an additional 12 to 15 miners have been reported as missing following the accident.

He said that municipal authorities were handling the response but added that communication had been difficult.

Santa Barbara de Iscuande is surrounded by dense rainforest and can only be reached by boat or small aircraft.

In a message on X, Escobar said the gold mine was an “informal” mine.

Informal and unregulated mining is common in rural parts of Colombia, where operations often lack adequate safety infrastructure, leading to frequent fatal accidents.

“At this moment our priority is to save lives, accompany families and guarantee an opportune response to this painful tragedy,” Escobar wrote.

In August, 13 people died in a similar mining accident in the municipality of Policarpa, also in Narino.

2026年8月11日，一艘用于非法采矿的挖泥船停泊在秘鲁马尔多纳多港坦博帕塔国家保护区附近。[图片：Guadalupe Pardo/AP]

哥伦比亚西南部一处非法金矿坍塌，造成14人死亡，7人受伤，当地政府周一表示。

事故发生在纳里尼奥省圣巴巴拉德伊斯库安德市的查梅罗农村地区。

纳里尼奥省省长路易斯·阿方索·埃斯科瓦尔表示，搜救行动已经结束。

纳里尼奥省灾害应对官员豪尔赫·托瓦尔·卡斯蒂略表示，事故发生后，另有 12 至 15 名矿工失踪。

他表示，市政当局正在处理应对措施，但补充说沟通一直很困难。

圣巴巴拉德伊斯坎德被茂密的热带雨林环绕，只能乘船或小型飞机到达。

埃斯科瓦尔在 X 上发消息称，该金矿是一个“非正式”矿场。

在哥伦比亚农村地区，非正规和无管制的采矿活动十分普遍，这些地区的采矿作业往往缺乏足够的安全基础设施，导致经常发生致命事故。

埃斯科瓦尔写道：“目前我们的首要任务是拯救生命，陪伴家属，并确保对这场令人痛心的悲剧做出及时反应。”

8 月，在纳里尼奥省波利卡帕市也发生了一起类似的矿难，造成 13 人死亡。