Suriname authorities on Wednesday declared two days of national mourning for the victims of Monday’s accident at an illegal gold mine, in which at least 15 people died, according to the latest official count.

Until earlier yesterday, the authorities were talking about 14 dead.

The country’s vice president, Ronnie Brunswick, who visited the site of the accident on Monday, called on all gold miners working illegally there to leave immediately and “until further notice (…) If you don’t leave, you will complain later that the government he treated you harshly.”

According to residents, 20 to 30 people were working in a self-dug tunnel at the Rosebel mine, which has been licensed to a subsidiary of Chinese company Zijin Mining, in Brokopundo district, 120 kilometers south of the capital Paramaribo.

Search and rescue teams are continuing to search for survivors, but are encountering difficulties because the ground is unstable and there is a risk of further collapses.

At the government’s request, France sent a team to help search for survivors, according to Suriname’s Defense Minister Krishna Mathura.

The company Rosebel Gold Mines yesterday Tuesday expressed regret for the deaths, but recalled that only last month it had asked the authorities to take measures to remove illegal gold miners from the sector.

Accidents of this nature are often recorded in illegal mining. In Brazil, French Guiana, Guyana and Venezuela, many gold miners work illegally, in extremely dangerous conditions.