Four miners trapped underground in Ecuador

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Deutsche Presse-Agentur

Four miners trapped underground in Ecuador
Oct 15, 2010, 22:43 GMT

Quito
- Four workers were trapped 150 metres underground in a gold mine Friday in the Ecuadorian province of El Oro, 750 kilometres from Quito, Ecuadorian authorities said.

Emergency services authorities in the town of Portovelo said that the shaft where the miners were working collapsed early Friday due to the presence of water.

Ecuadorian Mining Secretary Jorge Espinoza travelled to the area. A rescue operation was under way, but the fate of the trapped miners would only be known Saturday, authorities said. Rescue teams were trying to bore an air shaft to the miners.

The firm Minesadco has operated the mine since 2004 with 150 employees. The trapped miners were part of a night shift of some 50 workers.



Read more: http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/americas/news/article_1591798.php/Four-miners-trapped-underground-in-Ecuador

[zonkers]

1. Maybe there should just be a mining disaster channel on cable.

[Tx4obama]

2. Last night a miner in Chile died crushed by rocks...

Chile, October 15, 2010

In the midst of joy and celebration for the rescue of the 33 miners in Copiapo, a 26 year old man died last night when a rock crushed him, 1000 meters underground. It happened at the deposit ‘Botón de oro’ (Gold Button) in Valparaiso.

According to authorities, the place was working in ‘good condition’ at the time of the accident. Three colleagues witnessed the death of Roberto Fernández Benítez ....

http://momento24.com/en/2010/10/15/chile-a-miner-dies-crushed-by-a-1000-kilos-rock/

[iverglas]

3. it's dangerous work

Many of us are only here because our ancestors had the good fortune to be the ones who didn't die down the mines, somewhere or other in the world. I have 19th century mine-worker ancestors from Cornwall and Nottinghamshire in England. (There's a saying about Cornish mine workers: Wherever you may go in the world, if you see a hole in the ground, you'll find a Cornishman at the bottom of it.) The tuberculosis that mine workers are at higher risk of took half my great-grandfather's family, but he survived that and the British imperialist adventure in India (smart man deserted rather than getting sent to Afghanistan after 5 years), and thus I'm here.

It's a hard life for miners and their families everywhere. Looking for a reference to a particularly awful one in Canada, I first found this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Springhill_mining_disaster

The term Springhill mining disaster can refer to any of three separate Canadian mining disasters which occurred in 1891, 1956, and 1958 in different mines within the Springhill coal field, in close proximity to the town of Springhill in Cumberland County, Nova Scotia.

Westray was the one I was thinking of:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westray_Mine

On Saturday, May 9, 1992, a methane gas, and subsequent coal dust explosion at 5:18 a.m. ADT killed 26 miners. It was Canada's worst mining disaster since 1958, when a cave-in at another Nova Scotia coal mine, in Springhill, claimed the lives of 75 miners.

... Two of the mine's managers, Gerald Phillips and Roger Parry, were charged with 26 accounts of manslaughter and criminal negligence causing death. ...

But the trial was mishandled, and came to naught. The new legislation on corporate responsibility is not seen as a particularly effective deterrent.

And that's probably what's really needed.

[Judi Lynn]

4. Miner found dead following Ecuador tunnel collapse

Miner found dead following Ecuador tunnel collapse
The Associated Press
Updated: 10/16/2010 03:03:36 PM CDT

QUITO, Ecuador—Rescue crews in Ecuador have found the body of one of four miners who were trapped by a tunnel collapse 490 feet (150 meters) underground.
Deputy Mining Minister Jorge Espinosa says the body of 31-year-old Walter Vera was located on the fifth level of the gold mine.

Friday's cave-in happened in the city of Portovelo, about 250 miles (400 kilometers) southwest of the capital, Quito.

Rescuers were continuing to look for the other three missing miners Saturday.

http://www.twincities.com/national/ci_16356864?nclick_check=1

[Tx4obama]

5. Update: Two of four trapped Ecuadorean miners found dead

QUITO (Reuters) - Two of four men trapped in an Ecuadorean mine cave-in were found dead on Saturday in the latest accident to hit the industry in Latin America.

SNIP

"We have found two bodies. The rescue operation continues and we think the other two have a good chance of being alive," government mining official Jorge Espinosa told Reuters. "They were working in the part above the collapse."

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/news/2010/10/two_of_four_trapped_ecuadorean_miners_found_dead.php?ref=fpa