16-year-old Leber Gonzales has been rescued after being trapped for more than 24 hours. Photo / AP
Twenty freelance miners, including 16-year-old Leber Gonzales above, have been rescued after being trapped deep underground for more than 24 hours after a cave-in at an unlicensed gold mine in Nicaragua.
Five more workers are still missing.
"We give thanks to God our Lord and the Virgin Mary for having
saved from death 20 artisanal miners," official government spokeswoman First Lady Rosario Murillo said.
She said rescue crews were still working to locate the missing five miners. The miners were pulled out one at a time using a pulley system installed late Friday near the pit where they had been trapped.
An AFP photographer said the miners, mostly younger than 30, were "pretty tired, exhausted, dehydrated, muddy and dirty".
