Quake kills six at Codelco copper mine in Chile

Codelco says all of the five workers trapped at one of the world’s largest underground copper mines have been pronounced dead plus another who died when a powerful tremor caused a collapse last week.

Chile President Gabriel Boric has called for three days of mourning for the miners.

Chilean copper giant Codelco confirmed the sixth fatality on Sunday afternoon after discovering the bodies of four workers earlier. Another worker was reported dead at the time of the accident on Thursday evening when a 4.2-magnitude earthquake struck the central Chile region and caused the underground mine to collapse.

Aftershocks delayed rescue operations. Rescue teams in the end cleared 25.5 metres of blocked passages out of 90 metres that Codelco officials previously said might be necessary to reach the trapped workers.

Mine halted

Following the earthquake, which officials said was one of the strongest ever to hit the mine, the Andesita section collapsed. Chile’s mining minister Aurora Williams immediately suspended all activities at the mine.

Meanwhile, Codelco is investigating whether the deadly incident was caused solely by seismic activity or if mining operations played a role.

El Teniente, which has been in production since 1905, is a massive complex stretching over 4,500 km of tunnels and underground galleries in the Andes Mountains, about 75 km southeast of Chile’s capital, Santiago.

Last year, the mine produced 356,000 tonnes of copper, making it one of the top producers globally.