1 dead, 6 missing at northern Mexico coal mine collapse
COAHUILA, MEXICO — The body of one miner was found Saturday at a small coal mine in a northern Mexico border state that flooded and collapsed, leaving six miners still missing. There had been complaints for years about unsafe conditions at mines in the area.
The federal civil defense office said one miner's body had been found and the search was continuing for the other six in the coal belt of the northern state of Coahuila.
The Coahuila Labor Department said the mine was apparently hit by some sort of collapse and flooding. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said a dam or holding pond had collapsed, causing the flood.
Efforts have concentrated on pumping water out of the mine. The army dispatched a 28-member team that specializes in looking for victims in collapsed structures and it was using two trained dogs at the mine.
The mine, located in Muzquiz township, appears to be a type of deep, narrow, open coal pit with steep earth walls, though local media reported there may have been tunnels or chambers at the bottom. The area is about is 80 miles southwest of Eagle Pass, Texas.
