Two of four men trapped in an Ecuadorean mine cave-in have been found dead in the latest accident to hit the industry in Latin America.
Contrasting with the jubilation at this week's rescue of 33 miners in Chile, the two Ecuadorean miners' bodies were brought out to disconsolate relatives and officials at the small gold mine in Portovelo near the Peruvian border.
The miners were trapped some 150m underground when a tunnel collapsed early on Friday. Officials blamed the accident on water leaks.
"We have found two bodies. The rescue operation continues and we think the other two have a good chance of being alive," government mining official Jorge Espinosa said. "They were working in the part above the collapse."
About 100 rescuers were at the scene, trying to remove rocks and insert a small probe with a camera inside to determine the two men's fate.
In Chile the 33 miners survived for two weeks on limited rations until rescuers made contact. Their rescue, after more than two months deep under remote desert, triggered euphoria across the continent.
It also put a spotlight on mining safety in Latin America where there are still many accidents, though standards have improved dramatically in recent decades compared to the horrors of past centuries.
One of the worst accidents of recent times took place in Colombia in June, when more than 70 miners died after a gas explosion at a coal mine.