At least seven mineworkers were reportedly trapped on Friday when a mine collapsed in a coal-producing region in northern Mexico.

The State of Coahuila’s labour department disclosed that preliminary investigations suggest that the collapse was as a result of a flood at the mine in the municipality of Muzquiz.

This is just as the department stated that Police and civil protection authorities were at the scene for the rescue effort, it added.

“Some people who were working were trapped inside the mine.”

The National Guard announced on Twitter that its personnel “were deployed in the area to provide security and allow the rescue of trapped workers.”

Mexican President, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, said that he had sent personnel from the security, labour and civil protection ministries to the area.

“We are watching and in coordination with municipal and state authorities,” he tweeted. “We hope that the rescue is favourable for the families and for everyone.”

Coahuila, the country’s main coal-producing region, has seen a series of fatal mining accidents over the years.

The worst was an explosion that claimed 65 lives at the Pasta de Conchos mine in 2006.

The bodies of 63 of the miners are still at the site and the families have repeatedly appealed to the Mexican authorities to recover them.

 

 

AFP