At least three people are dead and anywhere from a dozen to 30 people are feared trapped beneath debris left by in the collapse of a wildcat gold mine in Colombia.  It’s the second deadly disaster in an illegal mine in less than a week.

“So far, three bodies have been recovered and we don’t know if there are more victims,” said regional Governor Temistocles Ortega.

Because the mine was operating illegally, authorities don’t know how many people were buried in the operation near Santander de Quilichao, 315 kilometers southwest of Bogota.  Ortega says the miners had access to heavy machinery, which they used to open holes from which they tried to extract gold – but took no safety precautions.  Rescuers are grim.

“It is impossible that anyone could have survived,” said Victor Claros, head of the firefighters in Cauca state.  “There is too much earth and rocks and mud.”

Less than a week ago, four miners suffocated to death in another illegal gold mine in Antioquia.  Officially, Colombia has more than 10,000 mines.  Because the exact number is hard to come at because half of them operate without the proper permits.