Mining tragedy in Sutatausa: source of income for 1,300 people threatened after accident in tunnels

The tragedy of Sutatausa (Cundinamarca) does not endwhere a chain explosion occurred in the coal mining area of ​​this municipality, on the night of March 14, resulting in the death of 21 workers. From now on, 1,300 people would find themselves without a source of income after the National Mining Agency (ANM) suspended the title to extract the ore in this population.

This was stated in an interview he gave to the radio station Radio Blue, the mayor of this municipality, Jairo Arévalo, after the decision of the ANM was known since this number of people have benefited from mining.

“I don’t know how the insured and the others are going to deal with it, but we are talking about about 1,300 direct workers in this company”indicated in the radio support.

remembered that the directive of the mining authority will be in force while investigations are carried out to establish the causes which led to the accident who caused this drama in the center of the country.

There uncertainty remains in this population, despite the fact that the companies that are in charge of these mines will provide financial support to the families of the deceased workers, as stated in the TV news city ​​news the Minister of Mines and Energy, Irène Vélez.

“The company has assumed a huge responsibility towards these families, it has decided that while waiting for the social security problems to be resolved, (…) It will generate a salary to support the families so that the impact is not even greater”, he claimed.

THURSDAY, the president officially announced that none of the miners trapped in the tunnels after the explosions had survived Tuesday night.

“Despite all the efforts of the rescue teams, unfortunately 21 people lost their lives in this tragic accident in Sutatausa. All my solidarity to their families.” The president, Gustavo Petro, wrote on his Twitter account.

“Every workplace death is not just a business failure, but also a social and governmental failure”he added.

That same day, the end of the research process was declared cWith the location of what they believe to be the last bodies of the minor victims of the explosion, recorded Tuesday evening in Sutatausa, which is 74 kilometers north of the Colombian capital.

“This search and rescue process is coming to an end: 21 people dead, nine people already discharged from Ubaté hospital”, reported Nicolás García Bustos, governor of Cundinamarca, where Sutatausa is located.

Rescuers located Wednesday evening a dozen more bodies after more than 24 hours of rescue work, with which the death toll rose from 11 to 21. While seven people left on their own and two were saved alive.

At the time of emergencya There were 30 workers inside the mines linked by a series of tunnels and ventilation sites, according to what mining authorities, a company that owns the mines that had a title, told mining authorities. which allowed it to operate legally.

“Seeing the unfavorable conditions… different strategies had to be put in place to be able to reach the site but always saving life” rescuers, told the press outside the mines María Carolina Galindo, project manager of the National Mining Agency.

Mining authorities are investigating the causes of the emergency, however, Mines and Energy Minister Irene Vélez said the day before that The first hypothesis indicates that the explosion was caused by a concentration of methane gas which, once accumulated, is highly flammable.

(With agency information)