Outside the entrance to a mine in the state of Coahuila in northern Mexico, frustrated family members of missing miners gather. Many of them are getting desperate. Wednesday marks two weeks since a large coal mine collapsed. – He knew it was dangerous. At a “memorial wall”, a little girl is busy drawing a red heart as a greeting to her grandfather, who is among the ten missing. Her father, Ronaldo Mireles Romo, is with his daughter and is speaking to the Associated Press news agency. – My father has always risked a lot for us in the family. He has worked in the mines since he was a small boy. At the mine entrance, a picture of one of the missing, Jaime Montelongo, is placed next to a Maria figure. Photo: JULIO CESAR AGUILAR / AFP – He knew it was dangerous. He did it to provide his family with food and schooling. He means everything to us, says Romo. Others who have gathered at the mine are begging for support and saying it is urgent. – We want help to get our family members out, says Maragrito Rodriguez Palomares to the newspaper El Pais. – We need help from our own people and from abroad, he pleads. – The authorities ask us to be patient and say it can take a long time. – Criminal act Al Jazeera writes that many relatives are critical of the authorities and believe that the rescue work is going too slowly. Relatives outside the mine entrances also direct their anger at the owner. – This is a criminal act that cannot go unpunished, says Magdalena Montelongo to the AFP news agency. – The miners have had to work under miserable conditions, she says. President Andres Manuel Lopez has visited the area and seen the rescue work up close. Criticism of the presidential visit The president greeted relatives of the miners, who fear that time is running out to get their loved ones out alive. – We will not stop the work to rescue the workers, he says. President Lopez Obrador visits the rescue efforts. Photo: JULIO CESAR AGUILAR / AFP – We must do everything we can, and more. We must do that as quickly as possible, said President Lopez Obrador on Sunday during a visit to Agujita, the area where the mine is located. He asked that the rescue operation be stepped up. Many relatives believe the president had little to contribute, writes the Associated Press news agency. – I appreciate that he came and took a picture of my pain, the pain of my family and the pain of everyone here, says Lucia Rodgriguez, who is the mother of one of the missing miners. – I hope the photos he took benefit him politically, she says ironically. Still hope? The situation is dramatic and no sign of life has emerged from the mines. Nevertheless, there is hope, writes Al Jazeera. Mediehuset has spoken to local people who know the mines well. They believe there may be tunnels with enough air where workers may have made it to safety. The miners are said to have been trapped between two 60 meter deep mine shafts which have been flooded. So far, rescue efforts have been focused on pumping out water to make it safe for divers to enter. The mayor of the region says that the amount of water has started to decrease and that divers will soon be able to enter the area where the miners are locked up. Local media write that five workers managed to get out and reported the accident. Three of them have been hospitalized. This miner survived the great accident in 2006 when 65 of his colleagues lost their lives. Photo: ALEJANDRO ACOSTA / AFP About 400 soldiers have been deployed to the work in addition to a group of divers who have entered parts of the mine that are flooded with water. 65 died in 2006 The mine was opened for business earlier this year, and the local authorities say they have received no complaints about safety. But lack of safety has been a theme in previous accidents. In June and July last year, two accidents in Coahuila claimed the lives of nine miners. The worst mining accident in Mexico was in 2006. Then 65 workers lost their lives in an explosion, which also happened in Coahuila. At the time, eight workers were rescued with major burns.
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Have been waiting for two weeks for answers about their loved ones who are trapped in the mine – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
