10 miners trapped in flooded coal mine in Mexico

10 miners trapped in flooded coal mine in Mexico

Three others had been rescued earlier after an inner wall collapsed.

Rescue workers helping out at the coal mine in Coahuila state, Mexico yesterday. (AFP pic)
MEXICO CITY:
Rescuers in Mexico, including dozens of soldiers, were working desperately on Wednesday to reach ten miners trapped in a flooded coal mine, following the collapse of an inner wall, the ministry handling the disaster said.

Three miners had been rescued and hospitalised, the security and citizen protection ministry said in an update on the rescue efforts at the mine in the Sabinas municipality of the northern state of Coahuila.

Television footage showed family members outside the mine clamouring for information on the missing men.

“I hope we find them safe,” Mexican president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said earlier on Twitter. Lopez Obrador had said nine miners were likely to be trapped, but authorities revised the number later.

Some 92 soldiers were working at the scene, as well as specialists and rescue dogs, the president said.

The labour ministry said it had not received any complaints about safety at the mine, which began operations in January.

Stay current - Follow FMT on WhatsApp, Google news and Telegram

Subscribe to our newsletter and get news delivered to your mailbox.