Four men were trapped 490 feet underground yesterday after a tunnel collapsed in a gold mine in Ecuador. Authorities said rescue efforts were under way.

A miner who survived the cave-in told authorities that four of his colleagues remained trapped in the mine near the city of Portovelo.

Rescue workers were digging out the main tunnel while others were preparing to possibly dig a hole from the side to reach the gallery where the miners were believed to be. The condition of the men was unknown.

Meanwhile, in Colombia, one miner died in an explosion and a second when a rock fell on him, in two separate mines. In the north-east, rescuers were still working to free two miners who had been trapped for four days in a coal mine.