Nineteen bodies after 32 die in mine explosion

Crews battling dangerously high levels of methane gas recovered 19 bodies from a coal mine in north-east Colombia following an explosion that killed 32 miners, a civil defence official said today.

Early efforts to remove the bodies trapped more than 1,300 feet underground by yesterday’s explosion were hampered by poor conditions and toxic gases in the makeshift mine, said Fernando Rosales, director of civil defence in Norte de Santander state.