A fire in a small gold mine in southern Peru has killed at least 27 people, the country's deadliest mining disaster in decades.
Initial reports suggest the fire started on Saturday (local time) because of an electrical fault in a tunnel inside the La Esperanza mine, located in the southern Arequipa region.
"We express our solidarity with the families of the miners who died," the Peruvian Council of Ministers tweeted in Spanish today.
READ MORE: Cold snap hits south-east Australia as mercury plunges to single digits
According to Peruvian newspaper La Republica, two people have been rescued.
Images on social media, and published by La Republica, showed a large plume of black smoke pouring out from the mine.
Peru is the world's top gold producer and second-largest copper producer.
Emergency services have been working since Saturday to try and recover the bodies.
https://twitter.com/larepublica_pe/status/1655231191652483072?ref_src=twsrc%5EtfwThe mine is operated by small-scale mining firm Yanaquihua.
According to government data, the La Esperanza fire is the single deadliest mining accident since 2000.
In 2022, 38 people were killed in mining accidents around Peru.
With CNN
Sign up here to receive our daily newsletters and breaking news alerts, sent straight to your inbox.
