Jesús Mireles Romo, 24, was one of the first to arrive at the scene of the accident, even before the authorities. His father, José Luis, is one of the captive miners in Sabinesa municipality of Coahuilain northeastern Mexico.
“I am in desperation, not knowing what is happening, how long will I see him again?” he told AFP while his voice cracked between tears and anguish.
Mireles and other relatives have accompanied without pause the arduous and hurried work to free the workers. They wait in the vicinity of the sinkhole, about 60 meters deep, which it collapsed suddenly upon being flooded by three wells connected to the gallery.
“Time is very important here, so we are very focused to be able to rescue the miners as soon as possible,” Laura Velázquez, national coordinator of Civil protectionduring the daily conference of the president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.
“What I want with all my soul is that we rescue the miners,” the president said in turn. “You must not lose faith,” he added, addressing the families of the workers.
How are the rescue efforts?
Trucks of the state electric company of Mexico, CFEilluminate the mine area, where 234 rescuers government officials are working against the clock to free the miners.
The purr of the powerful pumps that extract the water accompanies the hustle and bustle of rescuers and family members.
Mireles has not moved from the place since Wednesday afternoon and with his two brothers he tried to help the victims before the government personnel took over the rescue.
The mine is located about 1,130 km north of Mexico Cityin the so-called coal region of Coahuila.
After the collapse, five miners “managed to get out” and were taken to a hospital, of which two were discharged, Velázquez said.
The site works with eight extraction pumps and another 17 pumping teams with greater capacity are expected “to speed up the work,” reported the governor of Coahuila, Miguel Riquelme.
Why the mine accident happened
The damaged mine has three interconnected shafts through which coal is extracted, according to a diagram presented by the Mexican army.
The accident occurred when, while digging, workers encountered an adjoining area filled with water “which when it collapsed it caused a flood“, explained the coordinator of Civil Protection.
Blasa Maribel Navarro is also waiting behind the security perimeter made up of agents from the National Guard.
His cousin Sergio Cruz, 41, had only been working in this mine for two months, but several years in the dangerous job of extracting coal to support his two daughters.
“With the risk that there is and the need at home, that’s what they come to, right? To work in these places,” says the woman, who, despite everything, maintains the hope of seeing him alive. “Because we trust in God,” she says.
The collapsed mine is of the type called “pocito“, widely used to extract coal in Coahuila.
Are craft infrastructures that are usually dangerous for those who work in them because they do not have concrete infrastructure that protects workers from landslides as a industrial mineexplained the metallurgical engineer Guillermo Iglesias to a local radio.
In June 2021, seven miners died following the collapse of another coal mine in the region of Muzquizalso in Coahuila, the main producer of said mineral in Mexico.
The most serious mining accident in this region, bordering USAoccurred on February 19, 2006, when a gas explosion in the Pasta de Conchos minecontrolled by the conglomerate Grupo México, caused the death of 65 workers.
Source: Ambito
David William is a talented author who has made a name for himself in the world of writing. He is a professional author who writes on a wide range of topics, from general interest to opinion news. David is currently working as a writer at 24 hours worlds where he brings his unique perspective and in-depth research to his articles, making them both informative and engaging.
