📷 Image: Wikimedia Commons / Muhammad Mahdi Karim
National
14 Killed in Landslide at Illegal Gold Mine in Colombia's Narino Region
✍️ NDTV Top
🗓 20 Oct 2026, 06:25 AM
👁 19
Fourteen people died after a landslide struck an illegal gold mine in the Narino department of Colombia, near the Ecuador border. Authorities say armed groups that control the area’s clandestine gold trade were operating in the zone.
The landslide occurred on Tuesday afternoon at an informal mining site in the mountainous Narino department, rescuers said. Fourteen workers were buried under debris, and recovery teams retrieved all bodies by evening.
Narino is known as a hotspot for illegal gold mining, where armed groups exert control over the clandestine trade, often linked to drug trafficking and extortion. Local officials confirmed that the mine was operating without any legal permits or safety measures.
Rescue operations involved police, military personnel and community volunteers, who worked despite difficult terrain and ongoing security concerns in the area. No survivors were reported from the site.
Authorities have pledged to investigate the incident and to increase monitoring of illegal mining activities, although they acknowledged the challenge posed by the presence of armed groups in the region.
Narino is known as a hotspot for illegal gold mining, where armed groups exert control over the clandestine trade, often linked to drug trafficking and extortion. Local officials confirmed that the mine was operating without any legal permits or safety measures.
Rescue operations involved police, military personnel and community volunteers, who worked despite difficult terrain and ongoing security concerns in the area. No survivors were reported from the site.
Authorities have pledged to investigate the incident and to increase monitoring of illegal mining activities, although they acknowledged the challenge posed by the presence of armed groups in the region.