14 dead, 7 injured in Colombia illegal gold mine collapse: Why such accidents are common

Fourteen people were killed and seven others injured after an illegal gold mine collapsed in southwestern Colombia, local authorities said on Monday. The accident took place in the rural Chambero sector of Santa Barbara de Iscuande municipality in Nariño province. Search and rescue operations have concluded, Nariño Governor Luis Alfonso Escobar said.The governor urged the national government, the National Mining Agency and the Ministry of Mines and Energy to accelerate the formalisation of illegal and small-scale mining operations to improve working conditions and safety standards.Why are mine collapses frequent in Colombia?Accidents are common at Colombia’s informal and unregulated mines, where operations often lack adequate safety infrastructure. Such incidents can be triggered by unsafe extraction practices that weaken mine structures, causing slopes to collapse. Gas build-ups can also lead to explosions, another reported cause of fatal mining accidents.Illegal mines in regions such as Nariño are often operated by criminal groups to help finance their activities, according to a report by Deutsche Welle published in August.The latest incident follows a similar accident in August, when 13 people were killed and seven injured in a landslide at an illegal gold mine in Policarpa, also in Nariño. A government source told AFP at the time that improper ore extraction had undermined the mine’s base, triggering the collapse.Other recent accidents underline the risks. Earlier in August, 19 people were injured in an incident at a gold mine in Marmato, in the Caldas department. In May, nine workers were killed in a coal mine explosion in Sutatausa, about 70 kilometres north of Bogota.You use AI every day. Now get your AI Quotient. Take the AIQ test.