People gather around the site of the landslide in the Bulla Loca mine in Bolívar state, Venezuela, on Wednesday, February 21, 2024. Photo: X/@Fritz_A_Sanchez.
The authorities of Bolívar state, Venezuela, have confirmed that at least 30 people have died and over a hundred have been buried by a landslide in the Bulla Loca gold mine, in the municipality of Angostura, this Wednesday, February 21.
Venezuelan Vice Minister for Risk Management and Civil Protection Carlos Pérez Ampueda reported via social media that emergency response agencies and members of the Comprehensive Defense Operational Zone (ZODI) are carrying out rescue and search protocols.
Pérez Ampueda also explained that tents have been set up to offer triage and pre-hospital care to people who are rescued, while forensic medicine experts and ambulances have been called in to transport the victims.
#21Feb | Cumpliendo instrucciones del Vicepdte. Sectorial AJ. @ceballosichaso1 y en coordinación con el Gob. del Edo. Bolívar Ángel Marcano, funcionarios del SNGR junto a Organismos de Seguridad ciudadana y efectivos de la ZODI Bolívar, realizan Operaciones de Salvamento… pic.twitter.com/6FWE5SiE22
— cperezampueda (@cperezampueda) February 21, 2024
In a statement published online, the government of Bolívar state expressed its solidarity with the victims of the collapse, and stated that “from the early hours, Civil Protection and security teams have been carrying out rescue efforts for the victims.”
“As a responsible government and guarantor of the comprehensive well-being of our people,” the statement reads, “we will be hand in hand with the injured and support the families of the deceased at all times.”
So far, it is believed that there could be at least 30 deaths and more than a hundred people partially buried, a figure that has not yet been corroborated by the authorities present at the scene. The Secretary of Citizen Security of Bolívar state, Edgar Colina Reyes, has confirmed the estimates of fatalities and injuries.
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On December 8, the Secretariat of Citizen Security of the state of Bolívar reported that a gold mine collapsed in Paraiba de San José de Wadamapa, in the Gran Sabana, leaving at least 12 people dead. That was the second accident of this type that occurred at the same mine in less than a month, the first collapse having taken place on November 12 of last year; on the first occasion, there were no deaths.
Bolívar state is part of the Orinoco Mining Arc that the Venezuelan government has been trying to project as a model for sustainable mineral exploitation. However, US and European illegal sanctions and the resulting economic crises that they have created have affected the development of this project. Meanwhile, gold and diamond mines continue being exploited illegally by locals and foreigners.
(Telesur) with Orinoco Tribune content
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/JRE/AU
