Peru: In an unfortunate incident, at least 27 workers lost their lives in a fire at a gold mine in southern Peru. The authorities on Sunday informed that the fire that engulfed a tunnel inside the La Esperanza 1 mine was caused by a short circuit. The fire tragedy at a gold mine in a remote area of southern Peru is one of the worst mining tragedies in the country. The Yanaquihua mining company in a statement said that a total of 175 workers had been evacuated. It said the 27 dead worked for a contractor that specializes in mining.
Preliminary investigations indicated an explosion might have been set off by a short circuit. As per the report by AFP, Public prosecutor Giovanni Matos told Channel N television that there were "27 dead inside the mine."
Local media initially reported that the blaze started after an explosion at the mine. However, the explosion ignited the wooden supports present in the mine. As per the reports, the workers were 100 meters below ground.
Rescue operations were initiated and the local media reported that the rescue teams were trying to secure the mine before removing the bodies.
Yanaquihua mayor James Casquino in an interaction with the Andina news agency informed that most of the workers would have died of asphyxiation and burns.
As of now, no survivors have been reported. With this, there is no confirmation of how many people were in the mine when the fire broke out.
