Mexico
in hope and despair as mine rescue effort drags on
By
Alexandre Peyrille
AFP
SAN JUAN DE SABINAS, Mexico
Petroleumworld.com
02 23 06
A senior Mexican official said Wednesday that rescue workers were
"very close" to reaching 65 miners trapped in a coal
mine since Sunday, as despair gripped those waiting for results.
Rescue teams inched closer to where a first group of miners are
believed to be located, deep inside the Pasta de Conchos mine
in northern Mexico, and Labor Secretary Francisco Salazar said
they could reach the workers around midday.
"We are very close, and today we are addressing the concentration
of gases in order to advance faster," Salazar said. "In
all probability, today at midday," rescuers will make contact
with the miners, he said.
Skeptical Mexican newspapers on Wednesday published large photos
of new graves at a local cemetery, supposedly dug for anticipated
victims of the mine accident.
A woman who saw the front-page picture here was overcome.
"Why are they doing that if they know they are alive?"
she said between screams and sobs.
A local bishop who was due to hold a mass near the mine entrance
later Wednesday received a call Tuesday from a Vatican official
"on behalf of Pope Benedict XVI, who requested information
on the situation at the mine to send off a message of encouragement,"
the Notimex news agency said.
There has been no contact with the miners since an undeground
explosion trapped them in the mine in the first hours of Sunday.
It is believed they are between 700 and 1,200 meters (2,300 and
4,000 feet) along a two-kilometer-long (mile-long) tunnel.
They are probably in the dark, as the tunnel's emergency light
had a life span of only 12 hours. Air is being pumped into the
mine, but authorities have conceded that they cannot be sure it
is reaching the miners.
The teams have been unable to use heavy machinery for fear of
triggering another explosion inside the pit and are instead using
shovels and even bare hands.
Rescuers were 50 meters (165 feet) from where a first group of
miners is believed to be located, civil protection director Arturo
Vilchis said Tuesday.
Rescuers were clinging to the hope that the men are still alive.
"We are not working here to bring out bodies," insisted
rescuer Jose David Beltran. "We are working to bring out
survivors."
The diggers suffered a setback when part of their tunnel caved
in, forcing them to start over, he said. Vilchis added that there
were excessive levels of gas in some parts of the mine.
Relatives of the miners have kept a vigil outside the facility,
praying for a miracle as they desperately await news.
They have lashed out at mine officials and Mexican authorities,
complaining about conditions in the mine.
Some frustrated and angry relatives tried to breech a fence in
the mining complex to reach engineers involved in the rescue.
Relatives jeered Vilchis during his news conference.
The head of the Mexican miners' union blasted Grupo Industrial
Minera Mexico which owns the mine.
"This mine is one of the most backward from a technological
point of view," fumed Napoleon Gomez.
"Miners at Pasta de Conchos have always been very critical
of safety conditions in the mine, but businesses prefer productivity
and profits over the health and safety of miners."
Eighty-seven miners were inside the shaft at the time of the blast,
apparently triggered by gas. Ten workers escaped safely, while
12 others who were rescued suffered serious injuries, including
burns.
The workers were all on the night shift at the mine, located just
outside San Juan de Sabinas, a town of some 40,000 people.
Coahuila state, which borders the United States, has about 95
percent of Mexico's coal reserves, and hundreds of miners have
been killed in mining accidents in the area.
AFP
02 22 06
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© 2006 AFP. All rights reserved
