8 Aug 2010

Setback in attempt to save trapped Chilean miners

1:36 pm on 8 August 2010

Rescuers have been blocked in their attempt to reach 34 trapped miners in northern Chile by a fresh cave-in.

No contact has yet been made with the trapped miners since the collapse on Thursday at the small gold and copper mine near the northern city of Copiapo.

The miners were working at a depth of about 450 metres. Officials hope they managed to reach an underground shelter with oxygen and were rationing water and food.

Mining Minister Laurence Golborne said rescuers would have to find another way in as the easiest and most logical way had been blocked.

The accident shut down the mine, one of three adjacent sites producing a combined 1,200 metric tonnes of refined copper annually.

Major mining accidents are uncommon in the country, because authorities keep strict controls over operations, but a local union official said conditions at many smaller mines in the area are precarious.