AGUJITA (Mexico), Aug 8 (NNN-AGENCIES) – A major operation to rescue 10 trapped Mexican coal miners was approaching a crucial moment, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said, raising the hopes of desperate
relatives.
“Today is a decisive day because, according to the experts, we’ll know if it’s possible for the divers to enter safely,” he tweeted.
More than 300 soldiers and other personnel, including six military scuba divers, have joined the rescue effort in the northern state of Coahuila following Wednesday’s accident, the government said.
A camera was lowered into one of the mine shafts to evaluate the conditions inside, civil defense authorities said, but there was no news of significant developments as nightfall approached.
Five workers managed to escape from the crudely constructed mine in the initial aftermath of the disaster, but since then, no survivors have been found.
The focus has been on pumping out water from the mine in Agujita in themunicipality of Sabinas to make it safe enough to enter.
Authorities said that the three mine shafts descended 60 meters and on Friday the floodwater inside was reported to be 30 meters deep.
“The main problem is the flood, although the pumping equipment is sufficient,” said Lopez Obrador.
Coahuila’s state government said the miners had been carrying out excavation work when they hit an adjoining area full of water.
Experts detected a leak coming from nearby mines and aim to find its exact location so they can stop water flowing into the area where the workers are trapped, Coahuila’s labor secretary, Nazira Zogbi, said.
A French company has provided equipment to assist in the task, she said, without naming the firm.
The arrival of more powerful pumping equipment was also a reason for optimism, Zogbi added.
“Major progress has been made. It looks like we’ll have better news,” she said.
Water was seen flowing from the mine through drainage channels, lifting the hopes of relatives who spent a third night waiting anxiously for news.
“The last two days we didn’t see any progress with the water, but now we see that a lot of water has come out,” Elva Hernandez, mother-in-law of one of the trapped workers, said.
The state prosecutor’s office said that it had conducted interviews with thefive miners who managed to escape.
“Apparently they were expelled by a torrent of water,” Coahuila attorney general Gerardo Marquez told the press.
Prosecutors have requested information from the landowner and mine concession holder, he said.
Coahuila, Mexico’s main coal-producing region, has seen a series of fatal mining accidents over the years.
Last year, seven miners died when they were trapped in the region.
The worst accident was an explosion that claimed 65 lives at the Pasta de Conchos mine in 2006.
Only two bodies were retrieved after that tragedy. — NNN-AGENCIES
