Colombia – Gas Explosion Kills 4 Miners

BOGOTA – Four miners were killed in an explosion caused by an accumulation of methane gas at the San Patricio mine in Socha, a city in the central Colombian province of Boyaca, officials said Tuesday.

“The incident occurred around 7:00 p.m. Monday at a coal mine in the city of Socha, about four hours from Tunja,” Boyaca disaster management office director Alirio Rozo Millan told EFE.

Members of the mine rescue team based in the city of Nobsa and soldiers went to the mine, the National Mining Agency said.

The miners killed in the blast have been identified as Siervo Cristancho Machuca, Juan de Jesus Alfonzo Guenecio, Nelson Enrique Dueñas Valaguera and Jorge Humberto Mercado Valencia.

Five miners were killed in an accident in Samaca, another city in Boyaca, on July 2