Rescue of ten miners trapped in a landslide in Mexico progresses

Mexico’s rescue services have accelerated the rescue of the ten miners trapped in a coal mine in the town of Sabinas, Coahuila, in the north of the country, as they extract water with the help of pressurized pumps.

The miners, who have been trapped underground for more than 24 hours after a subway river caused flooding and blocked the mine exits, are at a depth of 34 meters, ‘El Universal’ has learned.

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has urged governors as well as federal government officials to send water pumps to support rescue efforts.

So far, there are five extraction pumps totaling 150 horsepower, in addition to two others that are being installed and could add another 50. Also, 150 troops from the Mexican Army, the National Guard or Civil Protection are already working at the site.

The governor of Coahuila, Miguel Ángel Riquelme Solís, has expressed his support to the families and has told them that “everything possible will be done to rescue the workers alive”.

“Each mine presents particular situations, this case is different from the last one (the one that occurred in June 2021 in the community of Rancherías), since here the plans were not updated and there was no notion of where the shots went or the conditions of the mine,” he said in statements reported by ‘El Diario de Coahuila’.

For her part, the national coordinator of Civil Protection, Laura Velázquez, has reported that five of the miners have already managed to get out and are receiving medical attention. Two have already been released and two are in critical condition.

One of the mine workers was the one who reported what happened to Civil Protection, after he managed to get out safely through an old mine.

The mine began operations in January 2022, and to date there had been no reports of any type of anomaly. However, accidents of this type are common in the region, the last one recorded in June 2021, when seven people lost their lives after the area where they were working was flooded.