Illegal gold mine collapse kills 14 in southwestern Colombia

Fourteen people were killed and seven others were wounded when an illegal gold mine collapsed in southwestern Colombia. Local authorities announced the toll on Monday, October 19, 2026. Al Jazeera

The collapse happened in the rural Chambero sector of Santa Barbara de Iscuande municipality, in Nariño province. The area sits near Colombia's Pacific coast, close to the border with Ecuador.

Nariño disaster response official Jorge Tovar Castillo said 12 to 15 miners were reported missing after the collapse. Nariño Governor Luis Alfonso Escobar later said search and rescue operations have concluded.

The incident follows another deadly collapse in the same province in August. Thirteen people died in a mining accident in Policarpa, also in Nariño.

That earlier collapse occurred at an open-pit mine and was caused by a slope collapse, described as a landslide. Reuters Authorities at the time said the Policarpa site was an illegal gold mine and that seven people were injured. DW Policarpa is located in Colombia's southwestern Nariño department.