Six miners killed in accident in Chile

World Wednesday 26/June/2019 16:35 PM
By: Times News Service
Six miners killed in accident in Chile

Santiago: At least six miners were killed and 34 others injured when a bus transporting the workers overturned in northern Chile, authorities said on Tuesday.

Additionally, two of the injured were in critical condition, according to the National Emergency Office of the Interior Ministry.

The accident happened Monday night on Ruta A-65 which connects the city of Iquique, some 1,785 km north of the capital of Santiago, with the Collahuasi mines.

Following the accident, police closed the road and an investigation is underway to determine the cause of the tragedy, which is believed to be brake failure.

Efrain Lillo, superintendent of local fire department, told reporters that it was "a major accident, the bus overturned, we had people trapped inside the bus who were rescued by firefighters."

Collahuasi is a mining company dedicated to the extraction and production of copper concentrate and cathodes as well as molybdenum concentrate.