Yorvis Hernandez, a 34-year-old miner, gets medical attention at a tent set up next to a mine after it collapsed in La Paragua, Bolivar state, Venezuela, Feb 21, 2024. (PHOTO / AP)

CARACAS - Fifteen people were killed and 11 others injured after a mine collapsed in La Paragua, the city of Angostura in the country's southeastern Bolivar state, said Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Wednesday night.

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Search and rescue teams continue to be deployed in the area by ground and air to find trapped miners after the unfortunate incident, the president added.

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"We immediately dispatched all the civil defense teams, together with the governor of Bolivar state Angel Marcano, we would strengthen the rescue phase," Maduro said via state television.

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Maduro added that preliminary investigations have determined that the collapse of the mine occurred after some drilling and "collapsed to a depth of 30 meters".