Segovia, Colombia

All 23 gold miners trapped for 48 hours in a collapsed shaft in Colombia emerged mud-covered but largely unscathed from their ordeal Wednesday to loud applause from colleagues and loved ones above ground.

Images shared by the state mining agency showed the miners brought out one by one, supported by rescuers and clutching water bottles at La Reliquia mine, some four hours from Colombia's second city of Medellin in the northwestern Antioquia department.

"Come on, come on, you can do it!" well-wishers encouraged as the men were hauled out, clutching ropes, before falling into the embrace of family members, visibly relieved.

The miners, stuck underground since the early hours of Monday in a shaft 80 meters (262 feet) underground, had been receiving food, water and oxygen through underground pipelines.

Officials said they received sustenance throughout the rescue operation and had been able to communicate with families and rescuers by telephone.

The mine's ventilation system continued functioning throughout.

The rescue was achieved after "48 hours of nonstop operations," Colombia's National Mining Agency (ANM) said on X Wednesday.

Friends and relatives waited anxiously the entire night for news on the miners' fate.

- Dangerous occupation -

The site is operated by a local cooperative on behalf of Canada's Aris Mining Corporation.

Mining accidents are frequent in Colombia and claim dozens of lives each year, usually at unlicensed mines. Last year, the toll was 124, according to the ANM.

On Sunday, seven miners who had been trapped in an illegal gold mine were found dead in an area in the country's southwest where guerrilla groups engage in gold extraction and cocaine trafficking.

Another 18 were rescued alive from a collapsed gold mine in the northwest in July after a day-long emergency operation.

The mining and hydrocarbons sector accounts for half of Colombia's legal exports.

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