Tue Oct 14 11:40:08 UTC 2025: Okay, here’s a news article summarizing and rewriting the provided information:
**Headline: At Least 14 Dead in Venezuelan Gold Mine Collapse After Torrential Rains**
**El Callao, Venezuela** – At least 14 miners have died after torrential rainfall triggered a collapse at the Cuatro Esquinas de Caratal gold mine in El Callao municipality, southern Venezuela, authorities have confirmed. Recovery efforts are currently underway to retrieve the bodies from the flooded mine shafts.
The National Risk System launched the operation on Monday after the devastating collapse, which occurred in three separate shafts of the mine. According to Bolivar state’s Operational Zones for Damage Assessment and Needs Analysis agency, the flooding caused the mine’s vertical shafts to collapse. Two miners managed to escape one of the shafts, which was approximately 100 meters (328 feet) deep, unharmed.
“The first phase of the works is to pump out all the shafts in the sector to reduce the water level, and then evaluate rescue efforts,” emergency officials stated on social media.
A command post has been established in El Callao, about 850km southeast of Caracas, to coordinate the ongoing rescue and recovery operations. The death toll is based on testimony from surviving miners, according to local firefighters, reported by The Associated Press.
El Callao has been a gold-mining center since 1853, with most residents directly or indirectly involved in the industry. However, Venezuela’s mining sector is plagued by poor regulation, unsafe working conditions, and exploitation.
Concerns about the industry’s practices have been raised previously. In July 2020, then-United Nations human rights chief Michelle Bachelet accused Venezuelan authorities of failing to investigate crimes related to the mining sector. The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights stated that the industry often exploited unskilled workers, forcing them to work long hours in dangerous conditions without adequate protection.
First Piper 