THE Nicaraguan government vowed at the weekend to continue search efforts for several miners who remained trapped in a gold mine after a landslide in the north of the country.

Rescue teams will continue search efforts, having freed two miners on Thursday and 20 on Friday, according to government spokeswoman Rosario Murillo Ortega.

Some 29 miners were trapped on Thursday after heavy rains caused a landslide at the mine in the Bonanza project, about 260 miles north-east of Managua.

Another landslide two months ago had killed two miners at the project, according to Hemco, the company which operates the site, and the mine had been closed about four years ago after being deemed unsafe.

Informal miners had continued to work at the mine against company orders, claimed Hemco head Julio Quintero.

Artisanal mining is legal in Nicaragua, where it is used as a way for more people to profit from the industry.