Lima: Mining company Poderosa said on Sunday that thirteen people were found dead inside a mine in Peru after being abducted a few days ago in the northern region of Pataz.
The company said in a statement, “This morning, after intensive discovery efforts, the police rescue team was able to recover the bodies of 13 workers, who were abducted (…) by illegal miners in connivance with criminal elements.”
Mining is a major economic driver in Peru, one of the largest gold producers in Latin America.
The Pataz, located at a distance of about 560 miles (900 km) from the capital Lima, is in a state of emergency, which is due to increasing the violence caused by the gold crowd there.
The victims worked for a company on Sunday, which served Poderosa, a major gold mining firm listed on the Lima Stock Exchange, which has been targeted by armed mining -affected groups in recent months.
The mining company said, “The spiral of uncontrolled violence in Pataz is happening despite the emergency situation and the presence of a large police contingent, which unfortunately, is not able to prevent the deteriorating security situations in the area,” said the mining company.
The Peru’s internal ministry said that it had deployed organized crime investigators to investigate the deaths, warning its agents that “if the circumstances were warrant, they were fully empowered to use their firearms.”
In the city of Trujilo west of Pataz, relatives of some victims waited for the bodies of their loved ones and shifted to the morgue there.
“We want justice, that it doesn’t just stop here,” Abraham Dominguase, whose son Alexander was found dead inside the mine, told the canal n television station.
Peru is facing a wave of forced recovery and violent crime, which has motivated the authorities to declare emergency situation in many parts of the country.
