No sign of trapped Mexico miners
(Reuters)
Updated: 2006-02-22 09:38

Frantic efforts to rescue 65 Mexican miners trapped in deep coal shafts for two days dragged on Tuesday and relatives of the men broke down in desperation at the slow progress.

Miners helping in the rescue efforts head to a coal mine where 65 coal miners are trapped, Tuesday Feb. 21, 2006 in the town of San Juan de Sabinas, Mexico, 135 kilometers (85 miles) southwest of Eagle Pass, Texas. More than two days after an explosion filled tunnels with fallen rock, wood and metal, rescuers have found no sign of the workers - either dead or alive - in the Pasta de Conchos mine. [AP]

About 60 rescue workers, mainly local miners, were digging with picks and shovels at the Pasta de Conchos mine in the northern state of Coahuila to reach the men.

"The work is going on in very difficult conditions. Unfortunately, the situation is grave," said Oscar Pimentel, a top official from the state government of Coahuila.

He said there was a chance the miners were alive if ventilators were working, but there has been no contact with any of the missing men since a gas explosion collapsed hundreds of yards (meters) of tunnels early on Sunday.

The rescuers used hand tools to avoid sparking a new blast in the mine, near the town of San Juan de Sabinas.

Relatives of the trapped men vented frustration at civil protection officials and mine management. Some hugged each other and cried in frustration.

Around 400 family members shouted at a state emergency services official who was trying to explain the delay.

"We want to know if they are alive," one screamed. Others threatened to break into the mine.

"Where is Fox?" a family member shouted, upset that President Vicente Fox had not visited the mine, 60 miles (100 kms) southwest of Eagle Pass, Texas.

Many were angry at the lack of information.

"Why don't they advance? We're desperate. They have us going crazy with the waiting. The people out here want to know, they have their husbands and sons in there, and no one tells them anything. How much longer will it be? Five days? A month?" Nydia Cadena, 26, screamed at one rescue official.

Her uncle was one of the men trapped in the mine. Her husband, also a miner, was not on the night shift team trapped by the explosion.

FADING HOPES

"I have been here since Sunday. We are waiting for the blow," said Roberto Galvan, whose brother suffered serious burns in the explosion and is in the hospital. His brother-in-law was among those trapped.

The missing men were carrying oxygen tanks with six hours of air in them, so their chances for survival depend on air pockets inside the tunnels or on the mine's ventilators.

"If the ventilators are still working and are carrying air to where they are, they could be alive," Pimentel said.

Rescuers were within 55 yards of where two of the men had been working on a conveyor belt at the time of the blast. Rescuers hoped to reach them Tuesday, but they were moving slowly through the dirt and rocks.

The rest of the men were thought to be in groups up to 1 1/4 miles into the mine.

There was no sign of a group of U.S. mine rescue experts that officials had said was due to arrive later in the day at the mine, owned by Grupo Mexico.

Thirty-year-old Maria Teresa Rodriguez sat pressed against a gate guarding the Pasta de Conchos mine, awaiting news.

"I'm staying here until my husband comes out," she said. "There is always danger in the mines, all the wives know that. But I have faith in the rescuers and I believe they will pull somebody out soon."

Some relatives built a makeshift shrine, lighting candles in front of an image of the Virgin Mary and praying that the miners be found alive.

Miners at Pasta de Conchos earn around 600 pesos (US$57) a week. Grupo Mexico denied union claims the company had been negligent about safety.