14 dead and 7 injured in Colombia gold mine collapse

A collapse at an unpermitted open-pit gold mine in rural Chambero, Nariño, killed 14 miners and injured seven on Monday, October 19, according to regional authorities. Governor Luis Alfonso Escobar said rescue operations had ended that night. The remote area around Santa Bárbara de Iscuandé is reachable only by boat or small aircraft, complicating emergency access, the [Associated Press reported](https://apnews.com/article/bffbd24132af34a0cb14a414579d1e9b). The toll was also reported by [Reuters](https://www.investing.com/news/commodities-news/14-dead-7-injured-in-colombia-illegal-gold-mine-collapse-4958516), which placed the collapse in the Chambero sector and said Escobar urged Colombia’s government and mining agencies to speed up formalization of informal and small-scale mining to improve safety standards. The Nariño government says two mine collapses in the department have killed 27 people in less than three months. The authorities have not announced what caused Monday’s collapse; the mine was described as operating without permits, and the governor called it informal.