Mexican authorities expressed this Wednesday their confidence "be at hours" to enter the mine in the north of the country where 10 miners remain trapped a week ago.
The 672 members of the Armed Forces and civilians who have spent 158 continuous hours in the operation They are about to extract enough water to enter the mine in Sabinas, Coahuila state, which was flooded after a landslide, said Laura Velázquez, national coordinator of Civil Protection.
“It has been an intense week, with many commitments. and we hope that we will be within hours of carrying out this rescue”, The official said by videoconference during the morning press conference of the president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
Velázquez recalled that the authorities have been working since last Wednesday, when at 1:35 p.m. local time (6:35 p.m. GMT) residents of Sabinas reported the collapse of a coal mine in the Las Conchas community, in the Agujita area, after a flood.
To enter the site to save the miners, the authorities have had to extract 125,453 cubic meters of water so far, according to the head of Civil Protection.
In the three flooded shafts of the mine, where it is presumed that the workers could be, there are still tension rods to be pumped of up to 10.2 meters, explained Velázquez.
Specialists also monitor methane gas levels to prevent an explosion when divers enter.
“Another very important level that is constantly measured is the explosion levels, which are optimal. No problem for rescuers so they can enter at any time. So we are very close, Mr. President, to being able to enter, ”he asserted.
The collapse of the mine, from where sOnly five workers managed to escape although they were injured, remember the tragic accidents that have occurred in Mexico in recent years.
According to the Pasta de Conchos Family, which brings together relatives of miners who died in the 2006 collapse in the mine of that name, also in Coahuila, there have been more than 100 deaths of people dedicated to mining in this coal area. since then.
President López Obrador has faced claims from relatives of the Sabinas mine, but has promised to attend to them and establish responsibilities.
“We continue to send our hug, solidarity, our faith to the relatives of the miners,” stated this Wednesday.