Overview
- The collapse at an informal open-pit site in Policarpa, Nariño, which happened Wednesday night, left at least 13 people dead and seven injured according to local officials.
- Narino authorities and the regional mining agency said heavy, improper ore extraction undermined the slope and caused the landslide, and they ruled out an explosion as the cause.
- Rescuers and community members used excavators to recover victims, but unstable ground and steep terrain slowed work and limited the use of heavier, technical rescue equipment.
- The site is in a known illegal-mining area on the Ecuador border where armed groups profit from gold and where unregulated operations frequently produce tunnel failures and landslides.
- The Colombian collapse follows a separate, larger mine disaster in the Central African Republic and has prompted official inquiries, victim identification efforts, and calls for stronger oversight and local support.