According to the Associated Press, regional disaster response coordinator Gilberto Mazo said the last miner’s body was removed from the El Desespero mine in the northwestern province of Antioquia early Friday local time.
The Latin American Herald Tribune reported that the last two victims were found at 5.43am according to official Fabian Morales and were located 280m underground.
The only known survivor is worker Norberto Isaias, who reportedly escaped the mine.
The AP reported Friday that government mining agency Ingeominas was deciding whether to close the 22-worker operation northwest of the capital city of Bogota.
An Ingeominas official said Thursday during recovery efforts that the mine was illegal.
Owner Arnulfo Velasquez, however, told CNN the same day that his operation had all necessary insurance and was legally producing.
Ingeominas rescue operations head Edgar Morales told media outlets that a 40-man rescue crew worked for 36 hours nonstop to recover the nine workers and revealed that Colombia had recorded 15 mining accidents already this year, with a total death tally of 25 to date.
The cause of Wednesday’s accident is still being determined, though Mazo told the AP that a survivor testified that crews had hit water, causing the mine to flood and collapse.
According to industry data, almost 500 miners lost their lives in accidents between 2005 and 2010.
Colombia is the fourth-largest coal exporter worldwide.
It is currently also the largest coal producer in the Latin American region, with major players such as Glencore, Drummond and Cerrejon operating in the country.
