Four found dead at illegal gold mine

Three of the victims were brothers. The accident happened at 5pm when seven people were mining for gold in an underground tunnel.

Two miners escaped the accident and bravely returned into the tunnel in a failed effort to rescue their co-workers.

The survivors received treatment outside the tunnel. Photo by Tien Hung

A rescue team arrived at the site two hours later and rushed the survivors to hospital.

“This is an illegal gold mine so local authorities were not informed of the accident and were unable to launch a rescue mission,” a local police representative said.

“The district is not known for illegal gold mining so the authorities had not paid due attention to the problem,” Alang Mai, chairman of the district’s People's Committee, added.

Photo by Tien Hung

Rescue workers were forced to pump oxygen into the tunnel before it was safe for them to enter.

Local authorities will subsidize the cost of taking the four victims home with up to VND40 million ($1,800). In addition, each of the dead victims' families will receive VND5 million ($225) from local authorities.

The case is under further investigation.