愛污传媒

Skip to main content

Mexico to send aquatic drone into shaft with trapped miners

Mexican soldiers move karts as they help in the rescue of 10 miners trapped in a collapsed and flooded coal mine in Sabinas, Coahuila state, Mexico, Thursday, Aug. 4, 2022. (AP Photo/Alfredo Lara) Mexican soldiers move karts as they help in the rescue of 10 miners trapped in a collapsed and flooded coal mine in Sabinas, Coahuila state, Mexico, Thursday, Aug. 4, 2022. (AP Photo/Alfredo Lara)
Share
MEXICO CITY -

Mexico will attempt to send an aquatic drone into a collapsed coal mine where 10 miners have been trapped since last week.

Laura Velazquez, national Civil Defence coordinator, said Monday that images from the drone could help authorities decide whether to send in divers without putting them at risk.

She also said that 25 pumps were working to remove water from the flooded shafts. Water that was once 111 feet (34 metres) deep was now between 55 and 78 feet (17 and 26 metres) deep.

The mine in Sabinas, Coahuila about 70 miles southwest of Eagle Pass, Texas, collapsed last Wednesday with 15 miners inside. Five managed to escape with injuries. Authorities say the miners breached a neighboring space filled with water. There has been no contact with the remaining 10.

The miners' families are desperate and some complained Sunday that President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador gave them little information when he visited the site.

"I appreciate that he has come to take a photo with my pain, the pain of my family and the pain of everyone of us here," said Lucia Rodriguez, mother of one of the miners, in a video circulated on social media. "I hope that his photographs serve his policy well."

The president said that as a public servant you have to be willing "to always pay the tax of humiliation," but that his conscience is clear because the rescue teams arrived to the site in two hours and have been working day and night to rescue the miners.

The state and federal prosecutor's offices have opened investigations to determine those responsible for the accident. Such small mines are often the result of locals who get concessions and then contract teams of miners. Experts say they seldom have the safety plans and equipment necessary to reduce the risk of accidents.

In June and July of 2021, cave-ins at two Coahuila mines claimed the lives of nine miners.

Mexico's worst mining accident also occurred in Coahuila on Feb. 19, 2006, when an explosion ripped through the Pasta de Conchos mine while 73 miners were inside. Eight were rescued with injuries including serious burns. The rest died and only two of their bodies were recovered.

Lopez Obrador's administration promised two years ago to recover the remaining 63 bodies, a highly technical endeavor that has still not begun.

CTVNews.ca Top Stories

Israel launches strikes on military targets in Iran, escalating Mideast wars

Israel pounded Iran with a series of airstrikes early Saturday, saying it was targeting military targets in retaliation for the barrage of ballistic missiles the Islamic Republic fired upon Israel earlier this month. Explosions could be heard in the Iranian capital, Tehran, though there was no immediate information on damage or casualties.

Canada Post driver Rick Harper recounts how he and others helped save a woman from a Tesla that caught fire after crashing into a guardrail on Lake Shore Boulevard.

Local Spotlight

A new resident at a Manitoba animal rescue has waddled her way into people's hearts.

Hundreds of people ran to the music of German composer and pianist Beethoven Wednesday night in a unique race in Halifax.

He is a familiar face to residents of a neighbourhood just west of Roncesvalles Avenue.

A meteor lit up our region's sky last night 鈥 with a large fireball shooting across the horizon over Lake Erie at around 7:00 p.m.

Residents of Ottawa's Rideauview neighbourhood say an aggressive wild turkey has become a problem.

A man who lost his life while trying to rescue people from floodwaters, and a 13-year-old boy who saved his family from a dog attack, are among the Nova Scotians who received a medal for bravery Tuesday.

A newly minted Winnipegger is hoping a world record attempt will help bring awareness for the need for more pump track facilities in the city.

A Springfield, Ont. man is being hailed a 'hero' after running into his burning home to save his two infant children.

Hortense Anglin was the oldest graduate to make her way across the platform at York University's Fall Convocation ceremony this week. At the age of 87, she graduated with an Honours degree in Religious Studies.