LIMA, 22 Feb ,, Several people were killed in a wildcat gold mine in the Peruvian Andes after heavy rains triggered a landslide, local daily La Republica reported on Thursday.
Peru’s civil defence agency, Indeci, said on Twitter that it sent a search-and-rescue team to the unregulated mining camp in the southern region of Puno. Indeci did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
La Republica reported seven people were killed after the landslide swept over the mining camp on Tuesday, with survivors retrieving bodies from the mud while authorities struggled to reach the remote location.
Peru is home to hundreds of unregulated mining operations where workers toil in precarious conditions.
Earlier this month, four miners were rescued from a small coal mine after a landslide trapped them for several days. Two miners were killed at a different mine last week when a tunnel collapsed under heavy rains.
Consecutive governments in Peru have sought to regulate “informal” mining.
This week the government of President Martin Vizcarra launched a new crackdown on wildcat gold mining in an Amazonian region, after deforestation from the activity in the region peaked last year.
Peru is the world’s sixth largest gold producer.
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Landslide kills several people in wildcat gold mine in Peru-local paper
