An explosion at a standoff between rival gold miners in Bolivia kills at least 5 people

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An explosion at a standoff between rival gold miners in Bolivia kills at least 5 people

2025-04-04 13:19 Last Updated At：13:30

SORATA, Bolivia (AP) — A powerful explosion killed at least five people, including a pregnant woman and 1-year-old baby, during a standoff between rival groups of gold miners early Thursday in northwestern Bolivia, police said, a rare instance of territorial disputes between the nation's mining cooperatives turning fatal.

The blast thundered through the Yani mining camp as two rival mining groups dispute access to the gold mine near the mountain town of Sorata, some 150 kilometers (about 90 miles) northwest of the country's administrative capital of La Paz, said Col. Gunther Agudo, a local police officer. Several gold deposits straddle the remote area.

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A miner's helmets sits near debris following an explosive attack near the Hijos de Ingenio gold mine in Yani, Bolivia, Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)

Relatives of miners look out from rubble after an explosive attack near the Hijos de Ingenio gold mine in Yani, Bolivia, Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)

Firefighters carry a body of a victim of an explosive attack near the Hijos de Ingenio gold mine in Yani, Bolivia, Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)

Blankets cover bodies of victims of an explosive attack near the Hijos de Ingenio gold mine in Yani, Bolivia, Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)

Delia Acarapi, who says her daughter died in an explosive attack, cries near the Hijos de Ingenio gold mine in Yani, Bolivia, Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)

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A miner's helmets sits near debris following an explosive attack near the Hijos de Ingenio gold mine in Yani, Bolivia, Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)

Relatives of miners look out from rubble after an explosive attack near the Hijos de Ingenio gold mine in Yani, Bolivia, Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)

Firefighters carry a body of a victim of an explosive attack near the Hijos de Ingenio gold mine in Yani, Bolivia, Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)

Blankets cover bodies of victims of an explosive attack near the Hijos de Ingenio gold mine in Yani, Bolivia, Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)

Delia Acarapi, who says her daughter died in an explosive attack, cries near the Hijos de Ingenio gold mine in Yani, Bolivia, Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)

Agudo had initially reported six people killed but revised the toll to five after firefighters finished recovering the bodies from under the rubble. The dead included three men, a pregnant woman and an infant, he said.

Bolivia's deputy interior minister, Jhonny Aguilera, said the suspected perpetrator of the attack was killed by the explosion, which was detonated by remote control.

The predawn explosion at the mine struck a three-story house and set cars and tractors alight. The fires wrecked several other structures and cut electricity.

Bolivia’s mining industry stands out for its huge sector of cooperatives — legal groups of artisanal miners — which drive 58% of mining production, according to the latest government figures. The thousands of groups also wield political clout in the resource-rich country where they have representation in Parliament.

Cooperatives historically emerged in Bolivia as more established mining operations dismissed legions of workers in the risky, boom-and-bust business, compelling miners to organize themselves when commodity prices slumped and lay-offs loomed.

Over the decades, cooperatives have increasingly fought over the chance to extract minerals — hurling rocks and dynamite sticks at each other and against unionized, salaried workers from Bolivia’s state-run mining company, Comibol.

Comibol came to dominate the crucial industry under former President Evo Morales, a socialist leader who governed the landlocked Andean nation from 2006 to 2019 and barred foreign companies from having a controlling stake in mineral extraction.

In Thursday’s clash, the struggle for control of certain veins of the gold reserve between two rival cooperatives had simmered for years, said Jhony Silva, a legal adviser to one of them. Gold remains one of Bolivia's main mineral exports, with almost $2.87 billion worth of the mineral shipped out of the country in 2023.

Rising rivers threaten US South and Midwest after dayslong torrent of rain

2025-04-07 09:27 Last Updated At：09:31

FRANKFORT, Kentucky (AP) — Rivers rose and flooding worsened Sunday across the sodden U.S. South and Midwest, threatening communities already badly damaged by days of heavy rain and wind that killed at least 18 people.

Even as the rain moved out of some of the hardest hit areas in Arkansas, Tennessee and Kentucky, water levels crept up in some communities, swirling into homes and businesses and submerging roads.

In Frankfort, Kentucky, rescue crews checking up on residents in the state capital traversed inundated streets in inflatable boats. Workers erected sandbag ramparts to protect homes and businesses and turned off utilities as the swollen Kentucky River kept rising.

“As long as I’ve been alive — and I’m 52 — this is the worst I’ve ever seen it,” said Wendy Quire, the general manager at the Brown Barrel restaurant in downtown Frankfort.

The river's depth had risen above 47 feet Sunday and was expected to crest above 49 feet Monday morning to a potentially record-setting level, according to Frankfort Mayor Layne Wilkerson. The city's flood wall system is designed to withstand 51 feet of water.

Forecasters said that flooding could persist as torrential rains lingered over several states. Tornado watches were in effect through much of the day Sunday in parts of Alabama, Georgia and Florida.

For many, there was a sense of dread.

“This flooding is an act of God,” said Kevin Gordon, a front desk clerk at the Ashbrook Hotel in downtown Frankfort. The hotel was open Sunday and offering discounted stays to affected locals, but Gordon said it could eventually be forced to close.

The 18 reported deaths since the storms began on Wednesday included 10 in Tennessee. A 9-year-old boy in Kentucky was caught up in floodwaters while walking to catch his school bus. A 5-year-old boy in Arkansas died after a tree fell on his family’s home and trapped him, police said. A 16-year-old volunteer Missouri firefighter died in a crash while seeking to rescue people caught in the storm.

The National Weather Service said on Sunday dozens of locations in multiple states were expected to reach a “major flood stage,” with extensive flooding of structures, roads, bridges and other critical infrastructure possible.

In north-central Kentucky, emergency officials ordered a mandatory evacuation for Falmouth and Butler, towns near the bend of the rising Licking River. Thirty years ago, the river reached a record 50 feet (15 meters), resulting in five deaths and 1,000 homes destroyed.

The storms come after the Trump administration cut jobs at NWS forecast offices, leaving half of them with vacancy rates of about 20%, or double the level of a decade ago.

A northwestern Tennessee town of about 200 people that flooded after a levee failure in February was almost entirely underwater on Sunday after the Obion River overflowed. Domanic Scott went to check on his father in Rives, Tennessee, after not hearing from him in a house where floodwater had reached the doorsteps.

“It’s the first house we’ve ever paid off. The insurance companies around here won’t give flood insurance to anyone who lives in Rives because we’re too close to the river and the levees. So if we lose it, we’re kind of screwed without a house,” Scott said.

For others that fled to higher ground, grabbing the essentials also meant taking a closer look at the liquor cabinet.

In Kentucky, with water rising up to his windowsills, Frankfort resident Bill Jones fled his home in a boat, which he loaded with several boxes filled with bottles of bourbon.

As of early Sunday, Memphis had received 14 inches (35 centimeters) of rain since Wednesday, the National Weather Service said. West Memphis, Arkansas, received 10 inches (25 centimeters).

The rain and fierce winds moved further east on Sunday, felling trees in Alabama and Georgia.

Forecasters attributed the violent weather to warm temperatures, an unstable atmosphere, strong winds and abundant moisture streaming from the Gulf.

Izaguirre reported from New York. Kruesi reported from Nashville. Associated Press writers Bruce Schreiner in Shelbyville, Kentucky; Andrew DeMillo in Little Rock, Arkansas; Adrian Sainz in Memphis; Tennessee; Sarah Raza in Sioux Falls, South Dakota; Obed Lamy in Rives, Tennessee; and Sophia Tareen in Chicago contributed to this report.