Miners trapped underground for nearly 10 days after the collapse and flooding of three coal shafts. But this Sunday the situation almost got worse. A “sudden rise in water levels” has occurred at the flooded mine, which could complicate the rescue operation, authorities said.
The water level in Well No. 2, which had stood at 70cm until Friday and could allow emergency access, is now reaching 12.92m, authorities said in a statement, adding that “engineers are assessing the situation on site and the reasons for rate this sudden drop in water level rise”.
Implemented a new strategy
At wells 3 and 4, water reached 15.5m and 12.5m respectively, an increase of 8 to 10m from levels measured on Friday, according to the press release.
“Engineers will develop a new strategy to drain the water from the El Pinabete mine,” the authorities assured.
However, this news is a particularly hard blow for the families of the minors, who on Saturday expressed fear that the intervention would be too late to save their loved ones.
Mexican authorities announced on Friday that “conditions” had been met for rescuers to enter the flooded mine in search of 10 missing miners. Thanks to the incessant pumping, the water level in one of the three wells that emergency services had to enter has been reduced to 70 centimeters, while it was 30 meters the day after the accident on Aug. 3, Defense Secretary Luis Cresencio told Sandoval.
A series of fatal accidents
On Wednesday, a diver entered one of the wells but was unable to proceed because he encountered “obstacles to entering the tunnels,” according to Coahuila State Governor Miguel Riquelme. Several hundred people participate in the rescue, especially with an underwater drone, to rescue the miners, whose relatives are becoming more and more concerned as time goes by.
According to authorities, miners were digging on Aug. 3 when they breached a water table. Coahuila, Mexico’s main coal producing region, has seen a string of fatal mining accidents over the years. The worst happened at the Pasta de Conchos mine in 2006 when a gas explosion killed 65 miners.