Four miners dead in Colombia coal mine explosion

The explosion took place Saturday at the Las Quintas mine in Pueblo Viejo, a village in Cucunuba municipality, said Jorge Emilio Rey, the governor of Cundinamarca department.

"The four miners who were trapped in the #LasQuintas mine" were found dead, Rey said on social media.

The Cundinamarca risk management office said earlier it was "responding to the emergency."

Local media reported that the workers were believed to be about 500 meters (1,650 feet) underground.

The cause of the blast was not immediately clear, but mining accidents are common in this region of Colombia, often due to poor ventilation at illegal or artisanal operations that operate without permits and fail to meet safety standards.

On May 4, an explosion occurred in another underground coal mine in the municipality of Sutatausa, also in Cundinamarca. Nine people were killed and six were rescued in that incident.