- Nine miners have been trapped since Thursday, state-run media says
- Report: They have been getting oxygen, food and water through a tube
- "We are a little less than 2 meters away," an official says, according to Andina
- In 2010, 33 miners were rescued after being trapped underground for 69 days in Chile
(CNN) -- Rescue crews worked through the night to try to retrieve nine miners who have been trapped below ground in southern Peru for days.
The miners have been stuck since Thursday in the Cabeza de Negro mine, the state-run Andina news agency said.
Edgar Ortega, second in command at Peru's civil defense agency, expressed hope that the miners could be rescued soon.
"My understanding is that we are a little less than 2 meters away," Ortega said Saturday, according to Andina.
He cautioned there are still risks involved, including the possibility of landslides, as workers clear debris.
It was not immediately clear what caused the collapse.
Miners have been getting oxygen, food and water through a tube, which has also allowed them to stay in contact with people above ground, Andina reported.
Local miners, police and firefighters, as well as a specialized search-and-rescue team from Lima, were assisting in the effort.
The ordeal stirred memories of the 2010 Chilean mine collapse, in which 33 men were trapped underground for 69 days. All of those miners were rescued, pulled one-by-one from hundreds of meters beneath the earth's surface with a specially-designed capsule.
CNN's Rafael Romo contributed to this report.
