Toll in Colombia coal mine blast reaches 73

Bogota, June 25 (IANS/EFE) Bodies of 73 miners, killed in last week’s blast in a coal mine in Colombia have been recovered so far, a source with Colombia’s Geology and Mining Institute said Thursday.

The explosion, apparently due to an accumulation of gas, occurred in the San Fernando mine in northwestern town of Amaga June 16, when the miners were working in a tunnel at the depth of 2,600 metre.

Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, who met with the families of the trapped miners last weekend, ordered an investigation into the incident.

–IANS/EFE