A 24-hour pumping lowered the water level in the flooded shaft of a coal mine trapped by 10 miners in northern Mexico, although Two days after the collapse. Officials said Friday that it was too expensive for anyone to attempt rescue.
National Civil Defense Coordinator Laura Velasquez said it was "essential" to reduce the amount of water in the 200-foot-deep tunnel before divers and other experts could enter. Workers were also trying to prevent new water from entering the shaft.
The mine in Sabinas, Coahuila, about 70 miles southwest of Eagle Pass, Texas, collapsed Wednesday afternoon when 15 miners were working. Five were injured and were able to escape. Authorities say miners have broke through an adjacent space filled with water. There has been no contact with miners since the collapse.
According to Javier Martinez, Coahuila's representative of the National Miner Union, the mines he was operating in are often filled with old abandoned mines that are often flooded. He said locals sometimes get small concessions and work contracted with a group of unionized miners, usually without safety measures such as ventilation systems, emergency exit shafts, and security equipment. ..
Such operations are not overseen by the Secretary of Labor, he said.
Accidents with such shoestring operations are common because miners work without maps and often use pneumatic hammers to drive into old water-filled tunnels.
In this case, the survival potential of the miner is "complex", whether the force to enter the water, the amount of mud carried, and the wooden stanchions supporting the walls of the shaft have been wiped out. Depends on. And if miners can reach the corner with air.
"Thank God for progressing little by little," said Elizabeth Viermamoreno, a relative of one of the miners.
In June and July 2021, the collapse of two Coahuila mines killed nine miners.
The worst mining accident in Mexico also occurred in Coahuila on February 19, 2006, when an explosion occurred at the Pasta de Conchos mine when 73 miners were inside. .. Eight people were rescued from injuries, including severe burns. The rest died and only two were recovered.
Mexico's President Andres Lopez Obrador's administration promised to recover the remaining 63 bodies two years ago. This is an advanced technical effort that has not yet begun.
