At least 27 dead in Peru gold mine fire

By Laura Gamba

BOGOTA, Colombia (AA) – A fire at a gold mine in a remote area of southern Peru left at least 27 workers dead, authorities said on Sunday.

The event occurred early Saturday morning at the Yanaquihua mine, located in the department of Arequipa, south of Peru.

A short circuit caused a fire inside the pit, Arequipa's local government said in a statement. The fire reportedly spread quickly through the wooden blocks that supported the gold mining site, preventing the miners from leaving.

"The owner of the La Esperanza mine, Esteban Rey Humani, went to the police station, three hours away from the city of Aplao, to ask for help and reported that 27 people had died of suffocation," the statement said.

The country's Interior Ministry confirmed the death of the miners.

"Police personnel are in the district of Yanaquihua to assist in the rescue of the miners who died in the tunnel in the province of Condesuyos," it published in its Twitter account.

Local prosecutor Giovanni Matos told local media on Sunday that all 27 miners had died.

James Casquino Escobar, the mayor of the district of Yanaquihua, requested the assistance of the authorities to investigate the possible circumstances that led to the tragic event.

Escobar said although it has been reported that the explosions in the mine were caused by a short circuit, the company has not provided any additional information about the accident.

"This event occurred at 11 a.m. on Saturday and they did not communicate it immediately, we found out at 3 p.m.," he said. "However, it was already late."

Rescue teams were trying to secure the mine before removing the victims' bodies. Authorities do not rule out that there are more people inside the mine.

This is the deadliest mining accident in more than two decades in Peru, which is Latin America's largest gold producer.​​​​​​​