Rescuers find body of last trapped Chile miner, bringing death toll to 6

The deadly incident happened after a shaft collapsed following an earthquake, according to Codelco, the state-run firm that operates the mine.

(CNN) — All five workers who were trapped in a Chilean copper mine that partially collapsed last week have been found dead, authorities said on Sunday, bringing the total number of fatalities to six.

The partial collapse of El Teniente, one of the world’s largest copper mines, had killed one worker on Thursday and left five others trapped under a significant amount of debris.

Chilean President Gabriel Boric said Sunday that the last missing miner had been found dead, as rescue workers completed their search through the debris.

The deadly incident happened after a shaft collapsed following an earthquake, according to Codelco, the state-run firm that operates the mine.

The National Seismological Center of the University of Chile recorded a 4.3 magnitude earthquake in the area around the mine on Thursday. The quake and subsequent collapse left nine additional people injured, Codelco said.

Codelco named Gonzalo Núñez Caroca, whose body was retrieved from the mine on Saturday, as one of the victims.

On Friday, Codelco CEO Rubén Alvarado warned that “the first 48 hours are fundamental” to finding the men alive.

He added that 20 meters (65 feet) of debris in the mine tunnel needed to be removed by rescue workers to reach where they believe the remaining men were trapped.

El Teniente, in central Chile’s O’Higgins region, is the largest copper deposit in the world, according to data from the company. The shaft collapse has forced a halt in operations.

During a press conference on Sunday, Codelco chairman Maximo Pacheco was questioned about the working conditions at El Teniente mine and asserted that the company had not received complaints from its workers.

“Codelco’s heart is damaged, we are devastated by the pain of the losses,” Pacheco said.

At the conference, Boric declared three days of national mourning starting on Sunday.

A CNN journalist attending the conference witnessed workers and relatives of the dead miners heckling Boric’s motorcade as it left Codelco’s offices in the city of Rancagua.

On Friday, Boric said that his government would do “everything in (its) power” to find the missing miners. “I have instructed the Minister of Mining, Aurora Williams, to be in the area to coordinate all necessary actions on the ground,” he wrote.

At a press conference on Saturday, Boric extended his condolences to the family of Paulo Marín Tapia, who died in the collapse, and said he is in contact with the loved ones of the other workers.

As the hours passed, the anguish of the families and their fellow miners increased.

“Hope dies last,” said Edgar Rodrigo Quesada, a miner and former union leader. He explained to CNN that while there is a shelter within the tunnel in case of a collapse, it isn’t close to where they believe the miners were.

“I just pray to God that my coworkers are okay,” Quesada said. “What I can tell you, honestly, is that the shelter is very far from where the collapse happened.”

“We have hope that they will be rescued alive,” Abelardo Céspedes, a miner at the site, told CNN. “We just found out that one co-worker was not lucky enough to make it out alive, but we trust a lot in God, we are very faithful, and maybe God will work a miracle and bring them out alive. That’s the hope we all have.”

The Chilean prosecutor’s office has already launched an investigation into the collapse. Codelco reported that it is also investigating the cause.

Andrés Music, the general manager of the mine, expressed his condolences in a Saturday statement and stressed that the accident was not caused by the use of explosives.

CNN’s Billy Stockwell contributed to this report.

This story has been updated.

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