Coal Mine Explosion In Mexico Traps 14 Miners; Calderón Promises Aid

May 4, 2011 By Staff

Mexican President Felipe Calderón.

Today in Latin America

Top Story — A gas explosion inside a coal mine in the northern Mexican state of Coahuila Tuesday trapped 14 miners underground and injured another.

The injured miner, 15, was working on a conveyor belt separating coal from tailings when the blast happened. He was rushed to a local hospital where both his arms were amputated and he remains in critical condition.

The 14 miners were down a 60 meter deep shaft when the explosion occurred and are now thought to be trapped some 50 meters underground. It was reported by Spanish language media that the mine is owned by the company BINSA.

A mine employee was lowered down a narrow shaft in an attempt to evaluate the conditions for a possible rescue of the miners, as emergency crews and public officials gathered around the pit of the mine. By mid-afternoon yesterday it was still unclear the condition of the trapped miners.

Rescue crews said that the lingering presence of methane gas is hindering their efforts to reach the miners.

The miner’s concerned family members gathered around the mine Tuesday afternoon as Mexico’s Secretary of Labor Javier Lozano also headed to the scene. Lozano reiterated that it is impossible to attempt a rescue effort with the presence of methane gas in the mine.

“The families are very desperate. We understand them, but it’s quite dangerous to enter the mine due to levels of methane present,” said Jesus Maria Montemayor, the mayor of the nearby town of Sabinas.

President Felipe Calderón also said that the Mexican government would help in the rescue in anyway that it could. Federal officials promised aid to the trapped miners’ families.

A 2006 explosion in the Pasta de Conchos mine, near Sabinas, killed 65 miners. Most of those bodies have still not been recovered.

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Image: Gobierno Federal @ Flickr.

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