The Mexican authorities began to prepare this Monday an operation so that rescue divers can enter a flooded coal minewhere ten workers have been trapped for five days, for which an aquatic drone entered the sinkhole and returned, according to images released by the Secretary of the Navy.
The head of Civil Protection, Laura Velázquez, said that the drone has a high-resolution camera and light to record up to 250 meters deep, the AFP agency reported.
with those pictures the divers of the Secretary of Defense will be able to identify possible obstacles “without putting at risk” the lives of the rescuersadded the official.
The camera announcement caused a stir in the camp where the relatives of the miners wait in Agujita, a community in the state of Coahuila (north and border with the United States).
Some commented on the possibility that this inspection speeds up the entry of divers.
However, the immersion through a well would take place in the middle of this week, according to an Army diagram presented at a conference by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
The government reported that work continues to extract water from the mine with motor pumpsbetween 30 and 40 meters deep, added AFP.
“More than 300 liters per second are being removed (…), it is what is necessary according to the technicians and we are hurrying to remove the water so that the rescuers can enter,” said López Obrador.
“Today they will be working with an underwater drone sent by the Navy,” said the head of the agency, Laura Velázquez, during the conference of the Mexican president, who supervised the rescue efforts in situ on Sunday.
The deposit is located about 1,130 km north of Mexico Cityin the coal region of Coahuila, the main producer of this mineral in the country.
The official explained that the device has a high-resolution camera and light to record up to 250 meters deep, so that divers from the Ministry of Defense can identify possible obstacles “without risking” the lives of rescuers.
The announcement of the camera caused “commotion” in the camp where relatives of the miners are waiting in Agujita, a community in the state of Coahuila, north and bordering the United States, the agency added.
Nevertheless, the dive through a well “would only take place in the middle of this week”according to an Army diagram presented at the presidential conference.
According to these estimates, the safe water level to allow rescuers access is 1.5 meters, and currently the level is 19.4 meters, AFP detailed.
The president assured that the personnel in the field and the families they maintain confidence that the miners are alive.
“Everyone has faith, no one is thinking of anything other than rescue. They explained to us that when working in these mines, the miners themselves act as holes or shelters,” he added.
However, the anxiety “is notorious among the relatives of the miners, who as the hours go by question the suitability of the rescue personnel and avoid talking to the journalists present at the scene,” the agency detailed.
Meanwhile, the security cordon around the mine was reinforced, the AFP agency found.
The accident occurred when the crew ran into an adjoining area full of water, which collapsed and flooded the mine, according to authorities, and five of the workers managed to escape.
Accidents in mines in Coahuila happen “regularly”.
In June 2021, seven miners died following the collapse of another coal mine in Múzquiz.
The most serious mining incident in this region occurred on February 19, 2006, when a gas explosion at the Pasta de Conchos mine, controlled by the Grupo México conglomerate, killed 65 workersof which only two bodies were recovered.
