Editor’s Note
This article reports on a fatal mining accident in Boyacá, Colombia, which has prompted official safety investigations.
A tragedy in the municipality of Socha shook the department of Boyacá on January 16, 2026, when four people died inside a coal mine.
The consequences of the emergency activated rescue protocols and have led to the opening of official investigations into the safety conditions at the site, reported Noticias RCN.
At the scene of the incident, emergency teams and specialized personnel deployed initial efforts to recover the bodies and secure the area. The corresponding authorities began a process to elucidate the precise causes of the accident and evaluate compliance with occupational and mining safety regulations established by law, the cited media reported.
In the information provided by the Boyacá Police to Infobae Colombia, the unfortunate event was confirmed:
The incident occurred while the victims, three miners and a woman in charge of the occupational health and safety area, were carrying out verification and inspection tasks inside the mine shaft. The emergency was caused by a dangerous accumulation of gases, which reached critical levels in a matter of minutes and prevented any attempt to evacuate in time.
The rapid concentration of these gases caused asphyxiation and proved fatal for the workers. The case puts the situation of mining safety in regions like Boyacá at the center of the debate, where extractive activity represents a fundamental source of employment but also generates repeated workplace incidents.
According to the local media, Matinal Noticias, these would be the identities of the deceased: Esteban Estupiñán, mining operator (native of Paz de Río); Angelica Zarate (SISO native of Paz de Río); Ricardo Carreño Sepúlveda, mining operator (native of Socha) and Yeison, mining operator (native of Socha).
A methane gas explosion in a coal mine in the San José neighborhood, Peña de Las Águilas sector, rural area of the municipality of Tópaga, Boyacá, on August 18, 2025, left five workers injured, two of them with serious burns, while authorities investigate whether the operation was illegal.
According to the report by El Tiempo:
The other three workers, identified as young men of Venezuelan nationality, were affected by gas inhalation and remain hospitalized in Sogamoso hospitals. The incident occurred around noon when the five workers were inside the tunnel.
According to information gathered by the media, the methane gas deflagration caused a sudden combustion, characterized by advancing more slowly than a detonation, which caused a drastic reduction of oxygen in the environment and serious respiratory complications for those present.
The rapid reaction of the rescue teams allowed for evacuation, although a sixth man who entered to provide help also suffered methane gas poisoning—a phenomenon known among miners as ‘engasamiento’ (gassing)—and was later removed. The mine is located near the limits with the municipality of Gámeza, in the vicinity of Puente Reyes, within an area classified with an express prohibition for mining by Tópaga’s Territorial Planning Scheme (EOT).
