Hopes
fade for rescue of 65 trapped Mexican miners
AFP
SAN
JUAN DE SABINAS, Mexico
Petroleumworld.com
02 24 06
The Mexican government played down Thursday hopes for the survival
of 65 miners trapped in a coal mine for four days, saying rescue
efforts were becoming increasingly difficult.
Labor Secretary Francisco Salazar, in a message to the families
of the victimes who have gathered outside the mine in northern
Mexico, said that rescuers working their way to where the miners
were trapped had found air of dangerously poor quality.
"As the rescuers advance, the air is weaker in oxygen and
higher in quantities of methane," a gas which is potentially
explosive, Salazar said. "That is making it less and less
breathable."
The air behind the rubble, where rescuers hope to find the miners,
could be even worse, he indicated.
"I cannot assure you (that they can breathe) at the bottom
of the mine -- the amount of oxygen there is very likely minimal,"
he said, more than 100 hours after the accident.
The director of the Pasta de Conchos mine, Ruben Escudero, also
voiced pessimism, as miners used picks and shovels to try to rescue
their colleagues.
"The working conditions are getting more difficult, they're
impeding progress," Escudero said.
Asked about the rescue chances, he said that air in some parts
of the collapsed tunnels had been of such poor quality that it
would be impossible for
humans to breathe.
"If I suppose that oxygen has zero oxygen we can expect there
will be no survivors," he said.
The miners have been trapped 150 meters (500 feet) below ground
since an apparent gas explosion caused a cave-in in a two-kilometer
(1.2-mile) long tunnel inside the Pasta de Conchos mine.
Unable to use heavy digging equipment for fear of triggering an
explosion in the gas-filled mine, rescuers have slowly burrowed
a tunnel with shovels, picks and their hands to reach the workers.
There has been no contact with the miners since the explosion
Sunday at 2:00 am (0800 GMT).
Eighty-seven miners were inside the shaft at the time of Sunday's
blast. Ten workers escaped safely, while 12 others who were rescued
suffered serious injuries, including burns.
Coahuila state holds about 95 percent of Mexico's coal reserves,
and hundreds of miners have been killed in mining accidents in
the area.
AFP
02 23 06
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