Mexican authorities confirmed this Sunday the discovery
of a fourth lifeless miner
of the seven who disappeared underground after the collapse of a mine in the municipality of Múzquiz, in the state of Coahuila.
Hours before, it had been announced, "after tireless work by rescuers", of the body of the third miner of the seven who were trapped after the flooding of the mine.
Pedro Sánchez, one of the volunteer miners who removed the body, told the press that it will be
"somewhat difficult" to
find the rest of the miners alive due to the water level and the time that has elapsed.
Relatives await information from members of Civil Protection outside the mine in the municipality of Múzquiz in the northern state of Coahuila, Mexico.
EFE / Miguel Sierra
According to preliminary investigations, there are indications that the accident in the town of Ranchería, municipality of Múzquiz, was due to an
overflow and flooding at the mine.
Authorities believe that the heavy rains of the past two days moistened the pit, causing it to collapse at midday and subsequent flooding.
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Miners were at work when the overflow occurred and a section of the mine was flooded.
Inspectors of Civil Protection and the Ministry of Labor are coordinating the rescue work and "all the necessary steps," the agency said in a statement.
In images obtained by Noticias Telemundo, the arrival of ambulances and the military that are already guarding the area can be seen, where dozens of civilians have also attended, including several volunteers who came to the area to offer their help.
Relatives have come to the place to look for their loved ones.
Coahuila Governor Miguel Ángel Riquelme said the miners were about
300 feet deep
(91 meters).
Riquelme said the mine had been closed in October 2020, but
was reopened
after an inspection.
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The president of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, tweeted on Wednesday night that he had given the instruction to the Ministry of Labor, Civil Protection and the National Guard to support the rescue of the miners.
A bad record
The collapse of the Múzquiz mine adds to the tragic history of the Coahuila mining region.
The accident brought to mind what happened on February 19, 2006, at the Pasta de Conchos mine, in the same state, where 65 workers died in an accident and only two bodies were recovered while the rest remain buried today. .
Since then, there have been more than
100 deaths of miners in the area
, according to the organization Familia Pasta de Conchos, which groups together relatives of the victims of the tragedy.
On October 23, last year, this group sent a letter to Manuel Bartlett, director of the state company Comision Federal de Electricidad (CFE), complaining about the conditions of the Micarán mine in Múzquiz.
The letter received no reply.
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"Since October 2020 the
terrible conditions
of this mine
have been reported to the CFE
, without the authorities taking measures commensurate with the risk," lamented this Saturday the organization Miguel Agustín Pro Juárez Human Rights Center (Centro ProDH), which advises the victims of Pasta de Conchos.
Members of the National Guard arrive in Múzquiz, Coahuila, after the collapse of a mine that left seven workers trapped;
on June 4, 2021 National Guard
Apparently, in the Micarán mine there was no drinking water for the workers, who worked in slippers, without ventilation, gas meters or fire extinguishers, and did not know if they were affiliated with social security.
But the public power company on Saturday detached itself from what happened, assuring that the crashed mine does not provide coal to the CFE and that, therefore, "it was impossible for its director (Bartlett) to be aware of the mine."
The Pasta de Conchos association suspects that, according to its own account, eight workers were trapped in the mine instead of the seven claimed by the authorities.
With information from Efe.