Trapped miners’ rescue bid

Efforts to rescue 10 miners trapped in a collapsed and flooded coal mine in northern Mexico intensified Thursday with hundreds of people involved in the operation, authorities said.

The collapse occurred after the miners breached a neighboring area filled with water on Wednesday, officials said. Authorities had not reported any contact with the trapped miners since the collapse.

The miners are trapped between two 200-foot-deep mine shafts more than half flooded with water, Undersecretary of Defense Agustín Rádiala Suástegui said Thursday. Rescuers were working to pump water out of the flooded mine.

A National Guard plane was expected to arrive Thursday with six specialforces scuba divers who could enter the mine when conditions allow.

Civil Defense Coordinator Laura Velázquez said that five miners had managed to escape the collapse.

Three of them remained hospitalized. Authorities had initially reported nine trapped miners Wednesday, but revised that number to 10 on Thursday.

The mine is in Sabinas, about 70 miles southwest of Eagle Pass, Texas. The mine began operations this year, and the local government said it had not received any complaints or reports of previous incidents.