Peruvian rescue workers, looking for survivors, dug frantically in the rubble of a landslide today that killed at least eight miners and trapped more than 20, government and mining officials said.
An avalanche of rock and mud, triggered by heavy seasonal rain, fell on a remote mining camp in the early morning hours in Carabaya province in the southern region of Puno.
It crushed some 50 homes, trapping workers of the small privately held Winchomayo gold mine. Eight bodies have been recovered so far.
"There are another 22 people missing and we do not know yet whether they are dead or alive," Carlos Martin Roncal, a Winchomayo mine manager, told Reuters.
Government officials said many roads in the area remained shut because of the rain, complicating efforts to get aid through.
Reuters