Ten miners trapped underground for days. What to know as Mexico tries to send drones
Rescue efforts continue to try and locate 10 miners who’ve been trapped underground since last week when a tunnel collapsed and flooded, according to Mexico authorities.
Fifteen coal miners were working underground on Wednesday, Aug. 3 at a site in Sabinas, Coahuila, Mexico, about 80 miles southwest of Eagle Pass, Texas, Reuters reported.
The excavation caused a tunnel wall to collapse, BBC reported, and water from a nearby cavity flooded three mine shafts.
Five of the miners managed to escape, Texas Public Radio reported. Ten others were trapped in the 196-foot deep mine shafts.
Rescue teams arrived within two hours of the incident and have been trying to locate the miners ever since, the Associated Press reported. By Monday, about 400 people were working on the site.
The escaped miners were taken to a hospital for their injuries, with two being discharged later, Reuters reported.
No one has made contact with the trapped miners, Texas Public Radio reported.
The teams set up 25 pumps to empty the flooded mines, the Associated Press reported. The water levels have dropped from 111 feet deep to between 55 and 78 feet deep, according to Mexican authorities. Volunteers have helped drain the water, photos from the Associated press show.
Divers and search dogs have been on the scene since Thursday, Reuters reported. However, they have not entered the flooded mines, BBC reported.
Instead, authorities will attempt to send an aquatic drone to photograph the tunnels, using these pictures to decide whether it’s safe enough to send dive teams, the Associated Press reported on Monday.
Families of the trapped miners have become increasingly frustrated with the “slow progress” of rescue efforts, BBC reported.
“I want my husband to come out all right,” one miner’s wife told Reuters.
Mexico’s President Andrés Manuel López Obrador visited the site Sunday, BBC reported, and said, “We have to do everything we are doing, and more.”
Family members of the trapped miners have gathered at the site to wait for more information, photos from the Associated Press showed.
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