Obstructions slow bid to save trapped Mexican miners

AGUJITA, Mexico: Rescuers trying to enter a flooded Mexican coal mine where 10 workers have been trapped for more than a week have encountered obstructions blocking their advance, authorities said Thursday.

A soldier wearing a helmet and military fatigues and equipped with a scuba tank descended into one of the mine shafts in a metal cage on Wednesday, emerging minutes later visibly wet.

The rescue team made four attempts to explore the crudely constructed El Pinabete mine in the northern state of Coahuila, but debris prevented them from entering the main tunnel below, officials said.

“They found that they don’t have room to move forward. There are obstructions,” Defence Minister Luis Cresensio Sandoval said.

Rescuers would keep trying to gain access, the general told reporters in Mexico City.

Five workers managed to escape in the initial aftermath of the accident on Aug 3, but there has been no contact with the others.

Two underwater drones have been deployed in the operation in Agujita, as have hundreds of soldiers and other rescuers, 25 water pumps and seven drills.

According to authorities, the flood occurred as miners were carrying out excavation work and hit an adjoining mine full of water.

The focus so far has been on pumping out water from the 60metre deep mine.

The water in the shafts had fallen significantly, from more than 30 metres, but was still several metres deep, authorities said.

Frustration was growing in the tight-knit mining community with each passing day.

“It’s been eight days now. We’re running out of hope because they (authorities) don’t give us any information to give us hope,” a miner and volunteer rescuer who did not want to be named told AFP.