Relatives of 10 miners who have been trapped since last Wednesday after the collapse of a precarious coal deposit at Coahuila clung to hope this Friday that they were still alive, but they also complained about their risky working conditions.

Jesús Mireles Father, 24, was one of the first to arrive at the crash site, even before authorities. His father, José Luis, was one of captive miners in Sabinasa municipality Coahuila, in northeastern Mexico.

“Desperation hurts me, don’t know what happened, how long will I see it again?” he told AFP as his voice cracked between tears and sadness.

Mireles and other relatives have accompanied without a difficult and hasty pause workers to free workers. They waited around a sinkhole about 60 meters deep which suddenly collapsed when it was flooded by three wells connected to the gallery.

Authorities are working to lower the water level in the mine to allow rescuers in.

“It is imperative to reduce the water mirror level in the incident area to (…) allow the safe entry of specialized SAR personnel,” he said, Friday. Laura Velazquez, national coordinator of Civil Protection during the president’s morning conference Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.

“We worked tirelessly to rescue the 10 miners who were trapped,” he said, adding that the water level had dropped from 34 to 30 meters.

Read: Ten Miners Trapped After Mine Collapsed in Sabinas, Coahuila, 5 More Injured

“Do not lose hope”

Country electric truck CFE illuminates the mine areawhere 234 government rescuers are working around the clock to free the miners.

The snoring of a powerful pump that extracts water accompanies the cacophony of rescuers and family members.

Mireles had not left the scene since Wednesday afternoon and with his two brothers he tried to help the victims before government officials took over the rescue.

“It hurts to see your children who don’t give up to see her father again,” said Claudia Romo, the mother of Jess, 45.

The mine is located about 1,130 km north of Mexico City, in the so-called Coahuila coal region.

After collapsing, five miners “made it out” and were taken to hospital, two of whom were discharged, Velázquez said.

The site works with eight extraction pumps and 17 other pumping equipment with larger capacities expected to “speed up the work,” reports Coahuila governor Miguel Riquelme.

“Risk and need”

The damaged mine had three interconnected shafts through which coal was extracted, according to a diagram presented by the army.

The accident occurred when, while digging, workers hit an area adjacent to the water “which caused flooding when it collapsed,” explained the Civil Protection coordinator.

Blasa Maribel Navarro was also waiting behind a security perimeter made up of National Guard agents.

Working in Sabinas, Coahuila, where 10 miners are still trapped. Photo: Cuartoscuro.

His cousin Sergio Cruz, 41, has only worked at the mine for two months, but has spent several years in the dangerous job extracting coal to support his two daughters.

“What’s that There is always job insecurityNavarro is sorry.

“With the risks involved and the need (…) at home, that’s what they do, right? to work in these places”, added the woman, who, despite everything, held on to the hope of seeing her alive. “Because we believe in God,” he said.

Tragic background in the mine

It mine that collapsed It is a type called “pocito”, widely used to extract coal in Coahuila.

They are artisanal infrastructure that is usually dangerous for those who work in them because they do not have concrete infrastructure that protects workers from landslides like industrial mines, metallurgical engineer Guillermo Iglesias explained to a local radio station.

It Governor Riquelme He explained to the press that the mine plans were “not up-to-date” and “no idea” about the state of the mine.

Lee: The water level at the Coahuila mine dropped to 30 meters; plan more drilling to access

In June 2021, seven miners died after the collapse of another coal mine in the Múzquiz region, also in Coahuila, the main producer of the mineral in Mexico.

The most serious mining accident in this region, bordering the United States, occurred on February 19, 2006, when a gas explosion at the Pasta de Conchos mine, controlled by conglomerate Grupo México, killed 65 workers.

Only two bodies were rescued after the tragedy.

Working in Sabinas, Coahuila, where 10 miners are still trapped. Photo: Cuartoscuro.

In light of the State’s alleged inaction, the case was brought before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, where litigation continued. Last February, the government announced the start of work to rescue the bodies, but families have expressed their dissatisfaction with the slow pace of the process.