Colombia mine blast near the northern town of El Zulia on Monday has claimed the lives of nine coal miners while six others remain trapped underground.

The National Mining Agency announced the developments. The explosion was caused by a build-up of gas, triggering a fire and the collapse of a tunnel, which trapped the miners, according to a BBC News report.

The surviving miners have been trapped underground for six days while their families have been desperately waiting for news as rescue efforts continue.

Mayor Manuel Pradilla said last week in an ABC News report that a miner who was above ground at the time was injured by the blast, causing him to have "burns all over his body."

Pradilla said in a Colombian TV news outlet that they are not losing hope, adding that they hope that the 14 trapped people can be found alive.

The sheets of flame shot nearly 50 feet outside the entrance to the mine.

Metro News reported that one of the dead has been identified as Fabio Caceres Garcia, who suffered severe burns in the explosion.

Caceres Garcia was the first person to be rescued but died in hospital in Cucuta the following day.

He suffered second and third-degree burns to 80 percent of his body after he had been outside the mine at the time of the explosion and was hit by the blast wave.

Meanwhile, another miner has also been found dead. However, he was not yet identified.

The country's mining agency spokesman said that workers had managed to repair the ventilation system. But the rescue would still "take several more days."

The ANM announced that it would launch an investigation into how the blast happened.

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Colombia Mine Blast

In March, an explosion at a coal mine had also taken place in Colombia, which had killed 15 miners.

The blast happened at the La Chapa mine located in Tasco, Boyaco, according to Anadolou Agency News report.

The agency noted that the accident was caused by an accumulation of methane gas at the mine, which was operated by Ingecolmaq SAS.

Rescue operations started as soon as the blast happened, with a group of 14 engineers, eight technicians, 60 mining rescuers, and company workers trying to bring the workers out alive.

Bodies were found under the rubble with burns from the explosion.

Mining in Colombia

Monga Bay reported that legal mining in Colombia has significantly driven deforestation, which contributed to the destruction of 121,819 hectares of forest from 2001 to 2018.

Researchers found that only 100 contribute to most of the deforestation out of the 8,600 mining concessions with permits given by the Colombian government.

Deforestation due to legal mining increased after the signing of a peace agreement in 2016, which had ended decades of civil war between the Colombian government and FARC guerillas.

It was then followed by the worst year for deforestation resulting from mining, with 22,000 hectares of forests cleared in 2017.

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This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Mary Webber

WATCH: Deadly Explosion In Colombian Coal Mine Traps At Least A Dozen Miners - from NBC News