Darkness and debris impede rescue effort at flooded Mexico mine

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Mexican military divers have been blocked by particles of their first try and descend deep right into a flooded coal mine in northern Mexico the place 10 miners have been trapped for every week, the nation’s protection minister stated on Thursday.

The miners turned trapped at a mine within the border state of Coahuila on Aug. 3 when their excavation work prompted a tunnel wall to break down, triggering flooding in components of the underground mine.

Mexican officers by Thursday had managed to dramatically scale back water depths that originally had topped about 100 ft (30 meters), however have struggled to ship in rescue groups even on preliminary efforts to gauge whether or not situations could be protected for a rescue mission.

Two navy divers entered one of many three flooded mine shafts on Wednesday after a miner and a rescue skilled submerged 4 occasions to clear particles, however have been unable to totally enter the mine.

“It had been blocked,” Protection Minister Luis Cresencio advised a information convention on Thursday.

“There isn’t a area to maneuver ahead, there are obstructions … there are nonetheless some planks of wooden. Even with their lights to see inside, they do not have the mandatory visibility to establish what they’re discovering,” Cresencio stated.

Cresencio added that officers would proceed efforts to aim to enter the mine whereas guaranteeing the protection of rescue groups. The water depths within the three shafts measure about 30 ft (9 meters), 23 ft (7 meters) and 16 ft (5 meters).

(Reporting by Daina Beth Solomon; Enhancing by Will Dunham)