Coal Mine Blast in Colombia Kills 16

Sixteen coal miners were killed when a powerful explosion buried them alive in a mine in northeastern Colombia, officials said Saturday.

A Red Cross official said rescue work at the El Diviso mine, in an area just outside the city of Cucuta on Colombia’s border with Venezuela, concluded before dawn when the last four bodies of miners were pulled from the wreckage.

The cause of the blast and subsequent cave-in, which occurred early Friday, was still under investigation. But rescue workers said it was believed to have been triggered by a buildup of methane gas.