A rescuer uses a pipe to take water from the coal mine where ten miners are still trapped, on August 14, 2022 in Agujita, Mexico (AFP / Pedro PARDO).
The rescue of 10 people trapped in a flooded mine in Mexico suffered a major setback on Sunday after the “sudden
“Water level rise” announced by the authorities, daunting the hopes of their loved ones who are calling for those responsible to be punished if the miners’ deaths are confirmed.
“The main culprits and criminals are the owners of the mine shafts,” said Magdalena Montelongo, sister of Jaime, one of the mine’s mines since April 3.
“It is a crime that cannot go unpunished. If my brother and his colleagues don’t get out alive, it’s a crime,” she denounced during an impromptu press conference near the rescue zone, stressing the “very poor working conditions.”
The accident at the El Pinabete mine in Coahuila state, Mexico’s main coal producer, is the latest in a series of accidents in the region, often caused by poor safety conditions.
The water level in Well No. 2, which had stood at 70cm by Friday and could allow emergency access, reached 12.92m on Sunday, authorities said in a press release, adding: “Engineers are assessing the situation on site and the reasons for this sudden rise in water levels”.
Relatives of the ten miners stranded in the flooded coal mine hold a press conference in Agujita, Mexico, on August 14, 2022 (AFP / Pedro PARDO)
At wells 3 and 4, water reached 15.5m and 12.5m respectively, an increase of 8 to 10m from levels recorded on Friday. “Engineers will develop a new strategy to drain the water from the El Pinabete mine,” officials said.
National Relief Coordinator and head of the operation, Laura Velázquez, rushed to reassure families in a press release that “the captured minors will not be left behind.”
– Savior “lost time” –
However, this news comes as a particularly hard blow to the families of the minors, who have expressed fears of an intervention too late to save their loved ones.
Aerial view of the Agujita mine, where rescue workers are still trying to pull out ten trapped miners underground, in Mexico, August 14, 2022 (AFP/Pedro PARDO)
Plutarco Ruiz, father-in-law of a captured miner, said authorities “wasted time” because they should have been taking water from the mine “from the start”.
Since Saturday, miners’ families have said they are “distressed” by the slow progress of the salvage, while also expressing distrust in the direction of operations.
Coordinator Laura Velázquez told miners’ families that rescuers were doing their best in “extraordinary conditions” and pointed out that the El Pinabete mine was close to the Conchas Norte mine, which was abandoned some thirty years ago, a time when “their water level has become very high”.
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.
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.
Relatives of miners trapped underground in the flooded Agujita coal mine in Mexico on August 14, 2022 (AFP / Pedro PARDO)
Several hundred people participate in the rescue, particularly with an underwater drone, to save the minors, whose relatives are becoming more and more worried as time goes by.
According to authorities, miners were dredging 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.