(México City) Mexico will try to send an aquatic drone to explore a collapsed coal mine where 10 miners have been trapped since last week.
Posted at 2:54 p.m.
Civil Defense Coordinator Laura Velázquez said Monday that drone footage could help officials decide whether divers can safely descend into the mine.
She added that the 25 pumps working day and night have raised the water level from 34 meters to between 17 and 26 meters.
The Sabinas mine in Coahuila collapsed last Wednesday with 15 miners inside. Five were able to escape despite their injuries. We have no news of the other ten.
Families of miners are discouraged. Many denounced on Sunday the little information revealed by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador when he visited the site.
MEXICAN PRESIDENCY PHOTO VIA REUTERS
President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador visited Sabinas on Sunday
The president said his conscience is at peace, as rescuers arrived on the scene less than two hours after the disaster and have been working tirelessly ever since.
Local and federal prosecutors have opened investigations to identify those responsible for the crash. Such small mines are often local operations that lack the necessary measures and equipment to reduce the risk of accidents.
The worst mining accident in Mexico’s history occurred in Coahuila in February 2006, when an explosion ripped open the Pasta de Conchos mine while 73 workers were underground. Eight were rescued, but some had suffered serious injuries. The others lost their lives and only two bodies were recovered.
President López Obrador’s administration promised two years ago to recover the other 63 bodies, but the highly technical mission has yet to begin.