San Juan De Sabinas, Mexico – Rescue workers scratched away at walls of debris separating them from 65 Mexican coal miners as family members desperate for word on their trapped relatives threatened to rush past soldiers guarding the pit.
Almost three days after a gas 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, about 85 miles southwest of Eagle Pass, Texas.
But officials late Tuesday did not rule out the possibility, however slim, of finding survivors.
Coahuila state Civil Protection Director Arturo Vilchis said officials “can’t speculate on the condition of the miners.”
The lack of news added to the strain on the hundreds of weary relatives of the trapped miners. The family members have camped outside the mine in the bitter cold since Sunday’s pre-dawn explosion.
A crowd of about 600 shouted at Vilchis until he took refuge behind a line of five soldiers guarding the entrance to the Pasta de Conchos mine.
“What are you hiding?” shouted one man. “If you don’t tell us the truth we will go into the mine ourselves.”
Yadira Gallegos, whose brother-in-law is trapped in the mine, accused officials of lying to them.
“They said they would tell us something at 3 o’clock, but they never came out. We want answers,” she said.
The crowd eventually calmed down when two rescue workers emerged from the pit in the evening and urged them to have patience.
“Please understand that conditions in the mine are very dangerous,” rescue worker Josue Beltran said, adding that loose bits of debris were still falling down in the pit.
Officials at the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration said Tuesday they were sending a truck with specialized equipment for analyzing gas samples and several mining experts to help with the rescue operation. The team should arrive at the mine site this afternoon, the agency said.
“MSHA and the entire mining community extend our deepest condolences when miners are in danger,” said David G. Dye, the agency’s acting administrator.
Mexican officials have said the 65 men were each carrying tanks with only six hours of oxygen, though the workers may have been receiving air through ventilation shafts and oxygen tanks that were scattered throughout the mine.
