Colombian rescuers recover four bodies from flooded gold mine

Colombian officials on Friday said four bodies have been recovered from a flooded gold mine, and rescuers are trying to find 11 people still missing.

National disaster response chief Carlos Ivan Marquez said rescuers found the bodies Thursday night and Friday morning. The announcement dampened hopes that the other miners would be found alive.

Authorities say Wednesday's accident at El Tunel mine in Riosucio, Caldas province, was likely triggered by an explosion or power outage that disabled pumps used to extract water and supply oxygen to crews.

Rescuers, who have been pumping out water from inside the tunnels since the accident, said it might take several days to reach all the miners. Some are trapped at a depth of about 55 feet, others at about 33 feet, according to the police commander for the department of Caldas, Luis Duarte.

The longer the search takes, the less likely it is the workers will be found alive. Red Cross rescue director Cesar Uruena on Friday said he doesn’t believe they’re alive at this point, but is still holding out hope.

Mining officials say it's not clear if the mine was complying with safety protocols, but are investigating. None of the workers had formal contracts to be undertaking the high-risk work.

Last week, Colombian authorities arrested nearly 60 people in raids targeting illegal mining operations used to finance the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), the armed group that has waged a five-decade war on the government.

Business has boomed over the past decade for Colombia's illegal miners as the price of gold has risen from less than $400 per ounce to almost $1,200.

Most of Colombia's annual gold production is produced by informal or illegal miners working in precarious conditions, leading to frequent accidents.

Last year alone, 87 mine accidents claimed the lives of 120 people, according to government figures. In 2010, 73 people were killed in an explosion at a legally operated coal mine in Antioquia province.

Al Jazeera and wire services