In Colombia’s central rural Boyaca department, four were killed and four were wounded by a landslide after allegedly searching for emeralds according to local media.
In the small town of Quipama an announcement of the discovery of emeralds lured groups of over 400 eager fortune seekers and looters to a plot of private land Wednesday night.
“Many people began to arrive at the location and the support of the local police force was asked for in order to control the mob. Just a little while later however, about 700 cubic feet of earth and stones fell on the looters,” stated Alirio Rozo, director of CREPAD, The Regional Committee for the Prevention and Attention of Emergencies and Disasters.
Since last night, two of the four deceased men have been identified as Gerardo Medina, 55 and Silvano Ruiz, 35.
This area has had similar precious stones findings in the past and during these other discoveries, the areas had to be militarized for safety reasons.
