Twenty miners freed from a gold mine in northern Nicaragua were
recovering in hospital on Saturday while rescue efforts continued to
reach five miners still missing.
The rescued miners were checked by paramedics and taken to a hospital in Bonanza, about 260 miles (420 kilometres) northeast of Managua.
Interior Vice Minister Carlos Najar said they were a bit dehydrated but in good health.
"I feel happy that we were able to get out. It was a difficult place to get out from," said rescued miner Antonio Diaz, before leaving hospital on Saturday with his father.
His father, Justo Diaz, doesn't want him to return to work at the mine.
"I don't want him to go back to working at the mine. I would never want this. I've told my son to no longer work at the mine because I recognize it's dangerous work," he said.
Bonanza Mayor Alexander Alvarado, a former miner who participated in the rescue effort, said it took about 100 men to reach the trapped miners early on Friday morning, and even then it took about another two hours to bring the first miner out to safety.
Alvarado said it's going to be harder to rescue the remaining five miners.
"We're going to open two work areas. One will be working on the side of the collapse and the other will work around the area where we succeeded in rescuing the colleagues (miners) yesterday. And this will be difficult because now it's about removing a large quantity of material (rocks, rubble) that has come crashing down in the attempt to reach the miners," Alvarado said.
The mine, which cuts into the side of a mountain and upwards, was covered by a landslide on Thursday.
The gold and silver mine is on a concession held by Hemco, which is owned by Colombia-based Minero SA.
The trapped miners themselves are freelancers allowed to work in the area if they sell any gold they find to the firm, according to mining company spokesman Gregorio Downs.
The rescued miners were checked by paramedics and taken to a hospital in Bonanza, about 260 miles (420 kilometres) northeast of Managua.
Interior Vice Minister Carlos Najar said they were a bit dehydrated but in good health.
"I feel happy that we were able to get out. It was a difficult place to get out from," said rescued miner Antonio Diaz, before leaving hospital on Saturday with his father.
His father, Justo Diaz, doesn't want him to return to work at the mine.
"I don't want him to go back to working at the mine. I would never want this. I've told my son to no longer work at the mine because I recognize it's dangerous work," he said.
Bonanza Mayor Alexander Alvarado, a former miner who participated in the rescue effort, said it took about 100 men to reach the trapped miners early on Friday morning, and even then it took about another two hours to bring the first miner out to safety.
Alvarado said it's going to be harder to rescue the remaining five miners.
"We're going to open two work areas. One will be working on the side of the collapse and the other will work around the area where we succeeded in rescuing the colleagues (miners) yesterday. And this will be difficult because now it's about removing a large quantity of material (rocks, rubble) that has come crashing down in the attempt to reach the miners," Alvarado said.
The mine, which cuts into the side of a mountain and upwards, was covered by a landslide on Thursday.
The gold and silver mine is on a concession held by Hemco, which is owned by Colombia-based Minero SA.
The trapped miners themselves are freelancers allowed to work in the area if they sell any gold they find to the firm, according to mining company spokesman Gregorio Downs.
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