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DISASTERS

Two Chilean miners trapped for 8th consecutive day 650 ft. below ground

By Fox News
Published | Updated
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Photo made available by Chile's Mining Ministry, showing the search and rescue operation at the Cerro Bayo mine, in the Chile Chico commune, in Aysen, Chile, June 16, 2017. (EFE/CHILE'S MINING MINISTRY)

Chilean authorities are trying to locate two miners who went missing eight days ago when the gold mine in which they were working was flooded following a landslide.

President Michelle Bachelet sent Friday a new message of support for the two miners last seen on June 9.

"All united, we Chileans will continue working without rest to find our miners in Chile Chico. They are not alone," the president posted on her Twitter account.

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All operations at Cerro Bayo, which produced around 14,000 ounces of gold and 1.7 million ounces of silver in 2016, are suspended. (EFE/CHILE'S MINING MINISTRY)

Authorities have not made contact with the miissing miners and do not know if they were killed or survived by reaching an emergency shelter, which is located some 220 yards underground and around 50 meters from the site of the landslide.

The men have been identified as Enrique Ojeda and Jorge Sanchez.

All operations at Cerro Bayo, which produced around 14,000 ounces of gold and 1.7 million ounces of silver in 2016, have been suspended since the accident.

ALL 33 CHILEAN MINERS RESCUED IN FLAWLESS OPERATION

Former Mining Minister Laurence Golborne said in a letter published in the daily El Mercurio not to compare this accident with what happened in 2010 in northern Chile, when 33 miners were dramatically rescued after 69 days.

"Beyond the similarities that exist in the two cases, I don't think it's right to compare these events, and even less to politicize this human drama and the pain that those affected and their families are feeling," he said.

Golborne added that "instead of making comparisons, what we should repeat is the sense of unity and make it stronger than ever. It's not the time to look for guilty parties or put the blame on others."

EFE and Reuters contributed to this report.