A tragic incident unfolded at the El Teniente copper mine in Chile, where five workers trapped after a collapse have been found dead. The bodies were recovered after rescue teams cleared over 24 meters of underground passages that caved in following a seismic event.
According to Prosecutor Aquiles Cubillo of the O’Higgins region, “Today we finally found (dead) the last of the missing workers.” The rescue operation, which involved more than 100 people, was launched after a 4.2 magnitude tremor caused the tunnel collapse on Thursday, trapping the miners inside. The search team included experienced rescuers who had previously helped rescue 33 miners trapped in a mine in the Atacama Desert in 2010.
The miners were working at a depth of over 900 meters when the collapse occurred, killing one colleague and halting operations at the site. Minister for Mining Aurora Williams announced the temporary cessation of activity at the mine on Saturday. “We deeply regret this outcome,” Cubillos said, bringing the total toll from the accident to six, including one person who died at the time of the incident.
El Teniente, the world’s largest underground copper mine, boasts over 4,500 kilometers of tunnels and produced 356,000 tonnes of copper last year, nearly 7% of Chile’s total copper production. The mine’s general manager, Andres Music, described the seismic event as “one of the biggest events, if not the biggest, that the El Teniente deposit has experienced in decades”.
Chile’s mining industry is considered one of the safest globally, with a fatality rate of 0.02% in 2024. However, the country lies in the seismically active “Ring of Fire” surrounding the Pacific Ocean, which can pose significant challenges to mining operations. Chile is the world’s largest copper producer, accounting for nearly a quarter of global supply, with about 5.3 million tonnes produced in 2024.