Colombia mourns goldmine victims

Local people were in shock at the scale of the loss of life

Rescuers have ended search efforts in southern Colombia where a makeshift mine collapsed on Saturday, killing 21 people and injuring some 24 others.

Red Cross officials said 16 women were among the dead at the mine located near the town of Suarez, about 350km (220 miles) from Bogota.

Rescue efforts were being halted as there were no reports of anyone else missing, officials said.

Local residents were mining for gold with few safety measures in place.

Recent torrential rains had weakened the sides of the open cast mine, sparking a landslide of mud and rock on some 50 prospectors, the majority of them women.

"All the victims were people from Suarez who worked, informally, in the mine," Red Cross spokesman Carlos Marquez told Reuters news agency.

"This is a region where there are a lot of single mothers and their only source of work is the mine."

Television pictures showed rescuers with heavy machinery wading through mud in an eight-metre (25-feet) deep by 50-metre (160-feet) wide pit.

Cauca provincial Governor Juan Jose Chaux said rumours of gold deposits had prompted prospectors to continue working there despite warnings that the pit was unsafe.

The site is owned by mining company Agromineros.

The BBC's Jeremy McDermott in Colombia says gold deposits abound in the region but few mining companies venture to operate there because warring factions hold sway across much of the area.

Mines are often makeshift and respect no safety regulations, leading to frequent accidents.