Body found in collapsed Chile mine as search continues for trapped miners
The collapse took place on Thursday at the El Teniente mine in Rancagua, 100km south of Santiago, after a 'seismic event.'
It was not yet known whether the tremor was natural or caused by drilling.
At least 100 people were participating in the rescue operation for the workers, who had been extending the mine to a depth of 1,200 meters. The rescue team is trying to drill through 90 metres of rock to reach the miners.
'As part of the search operation, human remains were found and have yet to be identified by the authorities,' Codelco said in a statement.
El Teniente's general manager Andres Music said the discovery of the miner's remains 'deeply saddens us, but it also tells us that we are in the right place' to find the other missing workers.
Chile's president, Gabriel Boric, visited miners' relatives on Saturday and vowed to 'complete the search'.
'Codelco has all the resources, experience and technology to carry out' the search, he said.
The body of another miner – not one of the five trapped – identified as Paulo Marin Tapia was found on Friday, shortly after the mine's partial collapse.
Work has been suspended at El Teniente, which began operating in the early 1900s and boasts more than 4,500km of underground tunnels.
Last year, the site produced 356,000 metric tonnes of copper – nearly 7% of the total for Chile.
Chile is the world's largest copper producer, responsible for nearly a quarter of global supply with about 5.3m metric tonnes in 2024.
The metal is critical for wiring, motors and renewable energy technology.
With Associated Press
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
Death toll from boat capsize off Yemen rises to 86, security sources say
Aug 5 (Reuters) - The confirmed death toll from the capsize of a boat carrying migrants off Yemen on Sunday has risen to 86, security sources told Reuters on Tuesday. The sources said the boat had been carrying 170 migrants, and that 42 had been rescued.
Daily Mail
8 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Possible sighting of missing Brit who vanished from sunbed on Greek beach while husband slept is revealed - as witness describes final action he saw her take and warning he gave her
A British woman who vanished from her sunbed on a Greek beach while her husband was sleeping was reportedly seen getting into deep water and was urged to not go any further. Michele Ann Joy Bourda, 59, had been swimming at Ofrynio beach in the city of Kavala at around noon on Friday before disappearing. Police have been searching on land for the tourist, while Greece 's Hellenic Coast Guard have been scouring the sea, but the central port authority in Kavala last night said it had paused its targeted search and rescue efforts. A sports instructor has now claimed that he saw a woman that resembled Mrs Bourda swimming in deep waters and said that he urged her to not go any further, LBC reports. Sources have also claimed that her belongings were left behind next to her sun-lounger after she vanished. A Silver Alert was issued after the police failed to immediately locate the tourist and authorities have warned that she may be in danger. Greek coastguard have seized their targeted search and rescue efforts, but say they are still patrolling the area at land and sea. A source close to the investigation told The Sun: 'We are giving it our all. There are still no signs as to whether she went missing on land or sea but right now there are no plans either to end this search.' She disappeared from Ofrynio beach in the city of Kavala in Greece (file picture) A coast guard official said that the Brit had been 'residing temporarily' in Serres, northern Greece. 'Michele is a British citizen who likely also had a home in the UK'. A map shows how the 10.5-mile-long Greek beach where Mrs Bourda vanished after lounging on a sunbed is surrounded by expansive fields, residential houses and a huge fishing pond. Mrs Bourda was last seen wearing a rhinestone-embellished two-piece beaded swimsuit, yellow beach shoes and a pair of red horn-rimmed sunglasses. It is understood she went to the beach in northern Greece with her Greek husband, who was asleep when she vanished. When he woke up, his wife was nowhere to be found, according to local media. She is described as being 5ft 6in, of a slim build with blue eyes and shoulder-length hair. The Greek missing persons charity, Lifeline Hellas, issued a Silver Alert on Saturday after the police were unable to locate her. 'Her life is in danger. If you know anything, contact the Silver Alert service, 24 hours a day, at the National SOS Line 1065,' the alert said. A Silver Alert is issued to notify citizens about the disappearance of elderly people, especially those with dementia or Alzheimer's. The Daily Mail contacted the FCDO for comment on whether the UK Government was assisting in the search for Ms Bourda. It comes after a 60-year-old British tourist went missing in June while on holiday in Greece. His hired car was found abandoned on the island of Karpathos in 38C heat and he was last seen by the owner of his rented accommodation on June 27. Meanwhile, fears are growing for a British woman who disappeared from a Spanish tourist hotspot last week. Jennifer Frances Lacey, 41, vanished from the municipality of Vera on Monday, July 28. Her disappearance was reported by the SOS Missing Persons Association on Thursday and she is described as measuring 5ft 2in, having curly brown hair, blue eyes and wearing prescription glasses. A Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office spokesman told the Daily Mail: 'We are supporting the family of a British woman who was reported missing in Spain.' At least ten foreign tourists were found dead or disappeared last year in Greece while going for a hike, often in high temperatures, the New York Times reported. It also comes days after the search for an elderly British man who went missing on a trip to ancient Turkish tombs ended in tragedy. Following a three-day search in and around the ancient tombs of Kaunos in Turkey for the 79-year-old, investigators found a body. The man was reported missing by his daughter, who he travelled with to Çandır, a village in Muğla's Köyceğiz district in southwestern Turkey, for a holiday together on July 26. At 10.30am that day, her father began a trip by rowboat to the nearby rock-cut temple tombs of Kaunos, also known as the Lycian rock tombs, but she lost contact with him and has not heard from his since. Following his daughter's report, Turkish authorities launched a search for the man with a 19-person team, consisting of the Köyceğiz Gendarmerie District Command, Muğla AFAD and an NGO. An investigation is now underway to understand exactly how the man went missing.
Daily Mail
8 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Toddler found in the street after mother abandoned her to go and party
A three-year-old girl was rescued from a street in southeastern Brazil after she was found wandering along crying for her 19-year-old mother, who left her home to go to a party. Construction workers were repairing a street Santo Andre, Sao Paulo during the earlier hours of Sunday when they spotted the child wearing only a diaper and called the military police. Surveillance video footage showed the barefoot girl reaching a corner at the intersection Pero Vaz Street when she stopped as a car sped by at 1:31am. She stood over a manhole cover for a couple of seconds and went to cross the street when she began to cry. 'I want my mommy,' she repeatedly said. The construction crew alerted the police and got help from local residents, who provided clothing to cover up the girl. 'She was blue from the cold,' one of the workers, Rafael Cruz, told SBT News. 'She just kept saying she wanted her mommy. The child's maternal grandmother appeared on the scene about an hour after she was found. The girl's mother did not return home until around 4am and was placed under arrest after she confessed to abandoning her daughter to attend the party. The mother is facing one count of child abandonment. 'The woman returned home and confessed that she had left her daughter sleeping to go to a nearby funk dance,' the Sao Paulo Department of Public Safety said in a statement. Her daughter was placed under the custody of the Sao Paulo child services agency. The mother's stepfather told SBT News that it was the first time that she had ever left the child alone at home. 'She's wrong, I agree,' he said. 'There's a child involved and she has to think about her.'
