Bloomberg reported that Colombian rescue workers recovered 6 bodies after a blast at a mine killed 7 men in central Colombia.

Colombian Institute of Geology and Mining said that the men died after an explosion triggered by methane gas ripped through a mine in the province of Cundinamarca.

The mining institute said that 2 other men died in a separate accident in Cundinamarca. In June, Colombia’s worst mine explosion in more than three decades killed more than 70 men at a coal mine in a northwestern province.

According to the US Energy Information Administration, Colombia is South America’s largest producer of coal and the world’s fourth largest coal exporter. The South American country is the world’s 11th largest coal producer, supplying about 1.2% of global 2008 output.

The seven Colombian miners were killed at a mine called El Roble while the 2 men died at the La Loma mine.

(Sourced from Bloomberg)