Bogota, Oct 31 (IANS/EFE) Twelve workers trapped by a flood inside a coal mine in the northwestern province of Antioquia are dead, Colombian authorities said Friday.
"With an inspection we made in the night hours, we know that everyone is dead," Carlos Mario Usma, head of environmental management and mine regulation in the municipality of Amaga, told the media.
The miners' fatal encounter with a pocket of water deep underground occurred at around 6 p.m. Thursday, he said.
"Of the 14 miners who were in the sector, only two escaped," Usma said.
A team of more than 30 people is now working to recover the bodies, Colombian Red Cross official Cesar Urueña said, while Usma said the first step would be draining the water from the affected area of the mine.
The operation to retrieve the bodies could take as long as three days, Antioquia Governor Sergio Fajardo told Caracol Radio after visiting the mine.
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