By Daina Beth Solomon
SANTIAGO (Reuters) -Chilean copper miner Codelco said on Saturday it has cleared just over a fifth of the blocked underground tunnels needed to reach trapped workers at its flagship El Teniente mine, but has not yet made contact with them.
A collapse on Thursday evening due to a strong tremor killed one worker and left five others trapped in the new Andesita section of El Teniente.
Rescue teams have now used heavy machinery to clear 20 meters (65.62 feet) out of 90 meters of passages needed to reach the location where Codelco believes the workers to be, said El Teniente’s general manager Andres Music.
Rescue teams are progressing at a rate of about 15 to 20 meters every 24 hours, Music said. He noted that it was difficult to predict when they would be able to fully clear the remaining 70 meters, where there is a truck turnaround wall.
“We believe that, possibly, if the workers tried to take shelter, they might be in that area,” he said.
Forty-four hours have passed since the accident at around 5:30 p.m. local time on Thursday, which was caused by one of the largest tremors ever recorded at El Teniente, with the impact of a 4.2 magnitude quake.
Codelco is investigating whether the cause was mining activity or natural tectonic shifts in the earthquake-prone country.
(Reporting by Daina Beth SolomonEditing by Bill Berkrot)
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