BONANZA, Nicaragua (AP) – Rescuers using long ladders tried to get food and water to freelance miners trapped in a Nicaraguan gold mine, as the effort to reach the 24 men entered its second day.
Authorities said 20 of the miners had been located and had communicated with rescuers at the El Comal gold and silver mine in the community of Bonanza in northern Nicaragua. The miners were trapped after collapsing earth blocked a shaft in the mine, which cuts into the side of a mountain and upward.
Hundreds of relatives and fellow miners prayed outside the mine as rescuers lined up several ladders along a 200-foot long tunnel leading toward where the men are trapped in a kind of cave. Authorities said the 20 trapped miners have said they don’t know what happened to the other four.
Bonanza Mayor Alexander Alvarado said rescuers were close Friday night to reaching the miners. Workers normally enter the mines with enough food and water for the workday.
“In a few minutes it will be possible to bring them food and water,” he said.