MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Bodies of all deceased Chilean miners retrieved

The six miners who lost their lives were working for Chile, Boric argued

A total of six Chilean miners died after a collapse at the El Teniente underground copper mine triggered by a “seismic event” in the Andesita deposit. The bodies of all six miners have been retrieved. The deceased have been identified as: Paulo Marín Tapia, Gonzalo Núñez Carioca, Álex Araya Acevedo, Carlos Arancibia Valenzuela, Jean Miranda Ibaceta, and Moisés Pávez Armijo. As a result of the collapse, nine other workers were injured.

In this scenario, Chilean President Gabriel Boric Font declared three days of national mourning. He also announced that an international audit would be conducted to investigate the cause of the accident. The head of State emphasized the importance of finding out what happened and holding any responsible parties accountable. “It is a painful day for the country,” said Boric. “I offer my sincere condolences to their loved ones at this difficult time. I know that all the people of Chile receive this news with sorrow and pain,” he added.

“When tomorrow a child in Cochamó, Tocopilla, Puerto Toro, or anywhere else in Chile asks their teacher why the flag is at half-mast, they will be told that it is for the six miners who lost their lives generating and working for Chile, because we know that mining has historically been part of the essence of our country,” he further explained.

Boric also thanked the rescue teams for their work, assuring that “they worked as hard as possible in high-risk conditions, but with the conviction that they had to succeed, and we did not hesitate to put all available resources into finding our five miners.”

The El Teniente mine, located near Rancagua, has suspended all operations to facilitate the rescue and recovery efforts.

The Chilean state-owned company Codelco reported on Sunday that the remains of the five workers who were trapped after a collapse in the El Teniente underground copper mine, located in the city of Rancagua, 100 kilometers south of Santiago, had been found.

According to mine manager Andrés Music, all the bodies were found at the same spot where the collapse occurred on Thursday.

With 4,500 kilometers of underground tunnels, El Teniente is the largest underground copper deposit in the world. In 2024 alone, it produced 356,000 tons of the metal, representing 6.7% of Chile's national production, estimated at 5.3 million tons per year.

Boric assured that, after finding the bodies of the victims, “other stages begin, that of clarifying the facts,” highlighting the announcement made by Codelco director Máximo Pacheco to conduct an international audit to investigate the accident.