At least eleven people were killed and 10 others were missing, after a powerful explosion in a coal mine in central part of the country, that affected four other mines linked by tunnels.
President Gustavo Petro on his Twitter account said that, rescuers were making every effort to reach the trapped miners. The blast, which was attributed to a build up of methane gas, took place on Tuesday night, in the municipality of Sutatausa in Cundinamarca Province.
Cundinamarca Governor Nicolás García Bustos, initially reported four deaths with two people recovered alive and seventeen trapped in the mine.
However, Captain of The Cundinamarca Fire Department Alvaro Farfán, said that the explosion affected five mines interconnected by tunnels, generating a chain blast with a wider impact.
President Petro later raised the death toll to eleven, while according to Energy and Mines Minister Irene Vélez, ten people were still trapped in the mines.
