A “sudden rise in water level” has occurred at the flooded mine where 10 people are trapped in northern Mexico, which could complicate the rescue operation, authorities said.
The water level in well No. 2, which until Friday had remained at 70 cm and could allow emergency access, now reaches 12.92 m, authorities said in a statement, adding that “engineers They are assessing the situation at the site and the reasons for this sudden rise in the water level.”
In wells 3 and 4, the water reached 15.5m and 12.5m respectively, an increase of 8-10m compared to the levels recorded on Friday, according to the press release.
hard hit for families
“Engineers will implement a new strategy capable of allowing the evacuation of water from the El Pinabete mine,” the authorities assured.
This news represents, however, a particularly harsh blow to the families of the minors who expressed on Saturday the fear of too late an intervention to save their loved ones.
Mexican authorities announced Friday that “conditions” had been met for rescuers to enter the flooded mine, searching for 10 missing miners.
Thanks to the incessant pumping, the water level dropped to 70 centimeters in one of the three wells between which the emergency services had to try to penetrate, when the day after the accident, on August 3, it was 30 meters, said the secretary of Defense, Luis Cresencio. Sandoval said.
A region that has experienced several fatal mining accidents
On Wednesday, a diver had entered one of the wells but had not been able to advance because he had encountered “obstacles to entering the galleries,” according to Coahuila state governor Miguel Riquelme.
Several hundred people are involved in the rescue, notably with an underwater drone, to save the minors whose relatives are becoming more and more concerned as time goes by.
According to authorities, the miners were carrying out excavation work on August 3 when they breached a water table.
Coahuila, Mexico’s main coal-producing region, has seen a number of fatal mining accidents over the years. The worst happened at the Pasta de Conchos mine in 2006 when a gas explosion killed 65 miners.
Source: BFM TV
