After days of searching, rescue teams in Ecuador have found the bodies of two miners who were trapped 150 meters underground in a collapsed gold mine. Authorities say they found the bodies late Wednesday.
President Rafael Correa, who had been at the scene much of the day, said rescue teams had done all that was humanly possible.
The discovery ended hopes raised on Wednesday when emergency teams broke through a six-meter-thick barrier of rock and wood and found two lamps, a boot and other signs of the miners presence.
The two men were with two other workers in the mine, about 400 kilometers south of the capital, Quito, Friday when a cave-in occurred. The bodies of the two other miners were recovered Saturday.
Mining officials say they believe high water levels in the mine contributed to the collapse.
Three workers were injured during rescue efforts Monday when muddy ground began to give way in a section of the mine.
The accident came days after international attention was focused on the dramatic rescue of all 33 miners in Chile who had been trapped underground for more than two months.
Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
