By Fredy Amariles
AMAGA, Colombia (Reuters) - More than 70 Colombian miners were trapped and all were feared dead on Thursday after an explosion ripped through a coal mine in what could become one of the Andean country's worst mining disasters.
At least 16 bodies were pulled from the wreckage after the midnight gas explosion at the San Fernando mine in north-western Antioquia province. The death toll was expected to rise as rescuers worked their way slowly down the mine shift.
The blast occurred far from the major mining operations run by companies such as Drummond and Glencore near the Caribbean coast of the world's No. 5 coal exporter, which has output of 70 million tonnes a year and is enjoying a boom in investment.
Relatives sobbed and hugged each other and anxiously pressed rescue workers for news as bodies wrapped in white sheets were carried from the wreckage to waiting hearses.
"They have to give me some sign of hope," Gladys Gallego said as she waited for a loved one outside the mine. "Until they take him out I am not going home."
Luz Amanda Pulido, a national disaster official, told local radio there was little chance any miners would be pulled out alive from the mine.
"This is a huge tragedy," said President Alvaro Uribe, citing reports of 72 people trapped and 16 bodies recovered.
A new accumulation of gas temporarily halted attempts to reach miners trapped 6,500 feet (2,000 metres) below the surface and rescue workers had only managed to work their way down 2,000 feet (600 meters) so far.
Five miners died in the same mine during a flood two years ago, local media reported. Last year, a methane gas explosion in another Antioquia province coal mine killed eight workers and, in 2007, 31 miners were killed in an explosion Norte de Santander in one of the country's worst mining disasters.
The blast at the small San Fernando, while one of the worst in Colombia's history, will not have a broad market impact because the mine is tiny and supplies the domestic market and some European traders, markets sources said.
San Fernando mine produces 240,000 tonnes a year of thermal coal, according to Mines and Energy Minister Hernan Martinez.
MINING AN ELECTION ISSUE
Just as news of the explosion was breaking, workers at Glencore's La Jagua's coal mine in Cesar province went on strike over conditions after failing to reach an agreement with the company, a union said.
Colombia has enjoyed a boom in energy and mining investment under Uribe, who sent troops out to drive back left rebels who once controlled large parts of the country and targeted oil pipelines as part of Latin America's oldest insurgency.
Uribe steps down in August and his former defence minister, Juan Manuel Santos, is favoured to succeed him in a run-off vote on Sunday. The country's commodities boom is an election issue with candidates debating how to handle an influx of mining and oil dollars.
The disaster could also highlight mining safety regulations in a country where the industry ranges from large deposits operated by multinationals to hundreds of small, makeshift pits that produce coal for local markets.
Most of Colombia's thermal coal exports are shipped from the ports on the Caribbean Sea, making Europe, the United States and Latin America the most logical markets.
The bulk of thermal coal exports go to Europe, where Colombian coal has been consumed for many years by power generators who prize this coal for its high energy and low sulphur content.
Key benchmark delivered Europe coal prices were barely changed from Wednesday's levels despite a mine blast and the strike at the Glencore unit.
August delivery DES ARA physical coal cargoes were quoted at $94.00-$96.50 a tonne on Thursday afternoon, up around 25 cents from the previous day. (Additional reporting by Nelson Bocanegra in Bogota and Jackie Cowhig in London; Writing by Patrick Markey; Editing by Doina Chiacu)
