Lack of current plans for the Coahuila coal deposit and high water levels flooding the wells are slowing work
In suspense and with a lump in their throats, the families of the ten workers who had been trapped in a mine in northern Mexico since Wednesday, stood guard at the foot of the landfill this Friday. The roar of the powerful pumps that draw water from the flooded wells and the constant bustle, day and night, of the nearly 400 troops deployed to the town of Sabinas, Coahuila State, were evidence of the complexity of an operation. that has gotten uphill as the hours go by.
The governor of the region, Miguel Riquelme, explained to local media that the difficulty of the rescue work has worsened because plans for the mine “were not up to date” and “there is no idea” of the conditions of the mine. deposit, which is of the type called ‘pocito’, very common to extract coal in Coahuila. These are artisanal infrastructures that pose a significant danger to those who work in them because they don’t have a concrete structure to protect them from landslides like an industrial mine, metallurgical engineer Guillermo Iglesias explained to a local radio station.
The miners, who were trapped underground for more than 48 hours after an underground river caused a flood while they dug and blocked the exits, are said to be at a depth of 34 meters, according to the Aztec newspaper ‘El Universal’. The wells in the Sabinas deposit are 60 meters deep and three of them would be submerged to about half their level. For this reason, “it is essential to lower the water level in the area of the incident to allow the safe access of specialized search and rescue personnel,” said Laura Velázquez, National Coordinator of Civil Affairs. Protection.
In that sense, the site will operate with 19 extraction pumps, and in the “next hours” other teams with greater capacity are expected to arrive to “speed up the work,” Riquelme said. «On average, about 60 liters of water are extracted per second and there is an extraction volume of 5,111 cubic meters per day. We work tirelessly,” added Velázquez.
Mexico’s President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has urged governors and the federal government to send water extraction pumps to support the work. “We want to send once again our solidarity, our hug to the bereaved and that we do not lose confidence,” the president said at his daily press conference. “What I want with all my soul is that we save the miners,” he said.
“The desperation hurts me not knowing what is going on,” Jesús Mireles Romo, 24, told AFP in a cracked voice, who was one of the first to arrive at the scene of the accident, even before the authorities to find out the fate. that his father, José Luis, one of the imprisoned workers, had run away. Five members of the group managed to flee in time, although they were injured, and were able to report what had happened. They were hospitalized and two were discharged this Friday.
The collapse recalls what happened in February 2006 at the Pasta de Conchos mine, also in Coahuila, where 65 workers were killed in an accident and only two bodies were recovered. Last June, another flood at a coal mine in the same region broke through the roof and walls of the mine, trapping seven miners inside. They are all deceased.
Source: La Verdad
I am an experienced and passionate journalist with a strong track record in news website reporting. I specialize in technology coverage, breaking stories on the latest developments and trends from around the world. Working for Today Times Live has given me the opportunity to write thought-provoking pieces that have caught the attention of many readers.
