AGUJITA: Mexican authorities on Monday (August 15) announced a plan to seal leaks at a coal mine where 10 workers have been trapped for more than a week, after fresh flooding caused a major setback to rescue efforts.
A sudden rise in water levels at the El Pinabete mine in the northern state of Coahuila has added to the desperation of relatives, who are increasingly frustrated by the slow pace of the operation.
Water in the well that rescuers hope to enter was about 38 meters deep on Monday, down from 1.3 meters early on Sunday, National Civil Defense Coordinator Laura Velazquez said.
The current level is even higher than the day after the August 3 accident, despite relentless efforts to pump the water, according to figures released by the government.
The new strategy aims to prevent more water from entering El Pinabete from the much larger and abandoned Conchas Norte mine nearby, Velazquez said.
The plan is to drill 20 holes 60 meters deep in the Conchas Norte mine and inject cement into them to seal the leaks, Velazquez said.
Authorities believe workers accidentally punched a hole in a wall between the two mines, causing El Pinabete to flood.
“We are not going to stop working to save the miners,” President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador told reporters.
Five miners managed to escape following the initial accident, but there were no signs of life from the others.
Several hundred rescuers, including soldiers and military divers, are assisting in the rescue efforts.
So far, the focus has been on pumping water out of El Pinabete and clearing wood and other debris from the vertical shafts so that rescuers can enter the main tunnels.
On Friday, authorities said they were finally able to start excavating the mine, but those hopes quickly faded.
Over the weekend, relatives of the missing workers expressed growing desperation and mistrust over the handling of the rescue operation.
They also called for the owners of the mines to be held accountable.
“It’s a crime that cannot go unpunished,” Magdalena Montelongo told reporters, adding that the miners had to work in “very poor conditions.”
Accidents are common in Coahuila, Mexico’s main coal-producing region.
The worst was an explosion that killed 65 people at the Pasta de Conchos mine in 2006.