Mexico turns to foreign companies in the rescue of the 10 trapped miners

Mexico will ask a German and an American company to help rescue 10 miners who have been trapped in a coal mine for nearly two weeks, authorities said Tuesday, as families call for rescue measures to be speeded up.

The Ministry of Foreign Relations did not immediately respond to the question of which two companies it had been in contact with.

The miners were trapped underground on August 3 at the Pinabete mine in the state of Coahuila, in northern Mexico, when the work they were carrying out caused a tunnel wall to collapse and the mine to flood.

The water has flooded more than half of the 60-meter depth of the Pinabete wells and the authorities have encountered problems extracting enough for the rescue teams to descend safely, also encountering debris such as pipes and wooden planks.

Laura Velázquez, the national coordinator for Civil Protection in Mexico, said officials from the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs would speak with the foreign companies in question on Tuesday.

“They are two companies that will give us an opinion to determine the actions with greater precision,” he said at the government’s morning press conference, adding that the vision they provide will be broader and more specific to the conditions of the affected mine.

Faced with this situation, relatives of the trapped miners said their frustration has increased with each delay and they blamed the government for not acting faster.

“The truth is, what a shame for a country to have rescue personnel who are not trained, prepared for situations like these,” said Javier Tijerina, whose brother Hugo is trapped.

Erika Escobedo, Hugo’s wife, said she was trying to hold out hope of seeing her husband again, but worries that authorities missed the chance to find the miners when the water level was lower several days ago.

“Everything is going very slowly, they had to take them out when there was an opportunity,” Escobedo said.

Meanwhile, engineers are combining work to isolate the Pinabete mine from the nearby Conchas Norte mine, a mine that has been out of service for more than 25 years and has been accumulating water all that time, while still being pumped to extract water. in Pinabete.

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