At least six gold miners working on a riverbank were crushed when a landslide hit northeastern Bolivia, according to residents who took part in the rescue operation.

The tragedy unfolded on Sunday afternoon near the community of Mapiri, which administratively falls under the prefecture of the capital La Paz.

“Yesterday [σ.σ. προχθές Κυριακή] we found two bodies today as well [χθες Δευτέρα] we recovered others,” said local official Ubaldo Torres, speaking of “five dead and one survivor.”

At the Mapiri health center, Rudy Salcedo, a local political leader, confirmed the death toll while speaking to private TV station Unitel.

Videos uploaded to social networking sites showed residents trying to pull the bodies of the victims from mudflats on the riverbank.

Eduardo del Castillo, minister of the government’s presidency, said during a press conference that the investigation is continuing, as there are fears that there may be other workers “buried”.

“People were very seriously injured,” he said, without specifying their number.

The gold miners, according to the authorities, were working legally, they were members of a cooperative that has received a license to exploit gold deposits in the area.