At least 10 people have been killed in a methane gas explosion at a coal mine in Colombia.

Five miners are still missing, the South American country's mining authority said on Sunday.

A team of 40 rescue workers are looking for the missing.

To increase their chances of survival, they would have created a ventilation shaft.

President Iván Duque expressed his sadness at the death of the miners on Twitter.

According to the authorities, the accident happened the day before in the La Chapa mine operated by the company Ingecolmaq SAS in the central Colombian municipality of Tasco.

Landslides hampered the search for the missing.

Oil and coal briquettes are Colombia's main exports.

Last year, 130 people died in mining accidents across the country, up from 171 the year before.

Most fatal accidents are recorded in illegally operated mines.