MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Rio Turbio: 14 mines killed in coal mine.

Rescue brigades found the bodies of yet two more Argentine miners which remained reported as disappeared in the recent fire and collapse of several galleries at the Rio Turbio coal mine in southern Argentine Patagonia.

According to Rio Turbio local authorities rescue teams late Sunday expected to recover four bodies that remained trapped in the mine, including the last two. A joint funeral for the four will be held this Monday.

"The relatives of the miners that were desperately waiting for news at the local hospital, finally received the tragic announcement with resignation because they imagined the dreadful outcome", confessed Santa Cruz governor Sergio Acevedo.

Besides the rescue brigades, Spanish experts and from United Nations arrived at the scene with the task of "checking the mine to see the extent of the collapse and damage, plus the dangerous accumulation of gas, and the best way to eliminate it", reported a spokesperson from the coal mine government company.

Mine shafts according to rescue teams still hold significant concentrations of carbon monoxide and methane, plus high temperatures demanding special care.

The Rio Turbio coal deposits and mine were privatized in 1993 by then president Carlos Menem but the government took them back in 2001, after the operator abandoned the enterprise alleging "non profit performance".

Miners were trapped in a four kilometres long gallery after fire broke out in a wooden coal conveyor.

Rio Turbio is the only coal mine in Argentina, very close to the Chilean border, and early this month Argentine president Nestor Kirchner, a former Santa Cruz governor announced a recovery package involving 110 million US dollars investment.