Eight days have passed since last August 3 the earth swallowed ten miners in the municipality of Sabinas, in the State of Coahuila (northeast of Mexico). The water from the Sabinas River, very close to this clandestine coal mine, seeped through the cracks, destroying everything in its path and collapsing the tunnels where the workers worked.
It was one of the mine workers who sounded the alarm and went to Civil Protection, after he managed to get out safe and sound through an old gallery.
Today, no one knows if the other miners are alive or dead, and relatives have camped around the pits, waiting, hoping that the victims will come out of this. It is not likely, as they have no food or water, but it is not the first time that other miners have survived in similar conditions. Their only chance is that they managed to find an air bubble.
According to the historical record kept by the relatives of the victims, since coal extraction began at the end of the 19th century, more than 3,100 miners have died in Coahuila, which produces 99% of the mineral purchased by the Federal Electricity Commission ( CFE). Eight days after the last collective tragedy in the mines, the community holds its breath and prays that it does not add another ten lives to the list.
So far, little progress has been made. After a group of rescuers from the Ministry of Defense (Sedena), together with a volunteer miner and a diver, have inspected the well to verify the state of the mine, the authorities have decided to abort the mission alleging that there are no safe conditions for proceed. However, during the two and a half hours of operation, the delegation has managed to remove obstacles so that the drainage of water could continue. For now, the rescue is postponed until a date to be determined.
According to the authorities, more than 500 agents have been deployed between teams of professional rescuers, Civil Protection, National Guard, the Army, engineers and specialists. Several ambulances wait outside, too, to act quickly when the miners are removed.
The mine in question began operations in January 2022, and to date there had been no complaints of any type of anomaly. However, these types of accidents are common in the region, the last one recorded in June 2021, when seven people lost their lives after the area where they worked was flooded.
