Hopes fade for trapped miners

Rescuers held out little hope today for dozens of coal miners trapped underground by an explosion that killed at least 18 in Colombia.

National disaster director Luz Amanda Pulido said chances were slim that any of the 50 trapped miners are still alive given the accumulation of methane and carbon monoxide in the San Fernando mine.

Relatives held wakes for some of those killed in Wednesday night’s blast in an access tunnel.

Mr Pulido said that rescue efforts were being hampered by gas build-ups in the mine.

The biggest loss of life in a Colombian mining disaster was in 1977, when 85 people died at a different mine in Amaga.