06 July, 2014

BBC News - Search for Honduran miners continues amid fading hopes

BBC News - Search for Honduran miners continues amid fading hopes: Informal mines are common in Honduras but the lack of adequate safety means serious accidents are not unusual.

The mine is in an area prone to landslides and earthquakes.

The mayor of the nearby town of El Corpus, Luis Andres Rueda, said there were more than 50 informal mines in the area.

He estimated that hundreds of people use ladders to climb down into shafts as deep as 200m every day.

Armed with pickaxes, they hack away at the tunnel walls to try to extract minute gold nuggets from the soil.