Around three in the afternoon this Monday, May 4, a strong explosion left 15 workers trapped. They were working in the La Ciscuda coal mine, in the municipality of Sutatausa (Cundinamarca).
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Six of them managed to be evacuated alive and transferred to the Ubaté Regional Hospital to receive medical attention. but nine died on the spot. A month before the accident, the National Mining Agency had carried out an inspection of the mine.
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Buenavista and El Aliso
A strong explosion in a mine in Sutatausa left 15 miners trapped. Photo:Cundinamarca Fire Department.
EL TIEMPO investigated and established that authorities are already verifying who are behind the operation of the mine and if they have how to respond in legal and economic terms for the death of the workers.
This newspaper anticipated and established that P3 Carbonera Los Pinos SAS, The operating company of La Ciscuda, in the Peñas de Boquerón sector, was created in October 2002 in Bogotá.
They are dedicated to the wholesale trade of solid, liquid, gaseous fuels and related products; coal mining and road freight transportation.
By 2025, the company reported revenue of 45 billion pesos and assets of 34 billion pesos.
And in the name of the firm, lots appear in Zipaquirá among these ‘Buenavista’, in Ubaté they appear as owners of a lot called La Primavera and a store; and in Tunja (Boyacá) they own another lot called ‘El Aliso’.
Cristóbal Pérez Velásquez is listed as manager and as shareholders, all with a 20 percent stake. from the same family of businessmen, Willington, Leidy Andrea and Pedro Daniel Pérez Velásquez, along with Luz Ángela Pérez Salazar.
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According to an order from the National Mining Agency accessed by EL TIEMPO, The company was assigned the concession contract to exploit the mine since March 2016.
It has an area of 36 hectares and is made up not only of La Ciscuda – the one where the accident occurred this Monday – but also by two others called Veta Grande and Vidriosa.
The ANM recommendations
The ANM document where P3 Carboneras Los Pinos appears as the owner. Photo:Private file
From the National Mining Agency (ANM) they reported that on April 9 they carried out a technical visit to La Ciscuda to carry out surveillance and control tasks on the mining operation.
And they issued recommendations such as carrying out complete sealing of abandoned works, where They showed gas emissions, especially methane, with the potential to generate dangerous accumulations.
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Likewise, update the inerting work inside the project, due to the presence of coal dust, including the installation of barriers in transfer areas such as hoppers and other critical points.
And include within the risk matrix what concerns the dangers associated with collapses, explosions, and coal dust control.
From the Mining Secretariat of Cundinamarca they have stated that The mine would have all the legal requirements for its operation.
EL TIEMPO called the phone number listed in the name of Cristóbal Pérez, legal representative of P3 Carbonera Los Pinos to ask him about the ANM inspection and what measures they took, but at the close of this edition he had not responded.
INVESTIGATIVE UNIT
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