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 News Around the Republic of Mexico | February 2006 
Probe of Mining Disaster Launched
 Wire services/El Universal
| | Francisco Salazar, Mexico's Labor Secretary, speaks during a press conference in Mexico City Monday, Feb. 27, 2006. Authorities have promised a full investigation of what happened in the minutes before the explosion. The mine had passed recent government inspections. Relatives of missing Mexican miners demand the recovery of bodies. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo) |
Federal authorities have begun an investigation into a Feb. 19 explosion that killed 65 miners, which could lead to the permanent shutdown of the mine owned by Grupo Mexico SA, the country's largest mining company.
“The mine will be closed until the investigation is completed,” Labor Secretary Francisco Javier Salazar said today at a news conference in Mexico City. “Sanctions can go all the way to permanently shutting down the mine.”
Salazar said the government will ensure that Grupo Mexico honor its promise to give each of the miners' families US$75,000. The company also has promised to pay the deceased workers' salaries until it can arrange a pension for each family.
The blast caused a cave-in at the mine about 80 kilometers (50 miles) from the U.S. border in the northern town of San Juan de Sabi nas. Workers as far as 2.5 kilometers from the entrance were trapped.
Officials knew as of Feb. 25, after rescuers dug for days with hand tools, that the miners couldn't have survived.
Air samples showed the presence of about 50 percent methane gas and 3 per cent oxygen where the miners were thought to have been work ing, he said.
“I categorically deny accusations that we withheld information,” he said.
More than 100 rescue workers, aided by experts from the U.S., toiled six days in the mine in the state of Coahuila using picks and shovels. The rescuers, who could not use heavy machinery for fear of causing another explosion, found no one.
As recently as Feb. 24 the government had expressed hope that rescuers would find at least some of the miners alive. The workers carried emergency tanks with six hours of oxygen and the mine's ventilation system continued to function after the explosion, officials said.
COLLAPSED TUNNELS
Each time rescuers came close to where the miners were thought to have been working, they found collapsed tunnels and deteriorating air quality. Mexico decided to call off the search to protect rescuers, Salazar said.
“We couldn't allow that a tragedy involving 65 people could become a tragedy of 100 more people,” he said. Eighty-seven workers from Grupo Mexico and the General de Hulla construction company were present when the blast occurred. Twelve workers suffered injuries from burns to broken bones.
A safety team of company officials and union and government representatives last certified the mine as safe on Feb. 7, Salazar said. After the incident, union leaders said they had been lobbying for more frequent inspections.
“There are inspections that are done very superficially or in which they don't give much importance to risks,” said Napoleón Gómez, national leader of Mexico's Miners Union in a telephone interview from San Juan de Sabi nas. Mining leaders said the Feb. 19 explosion was an isolated incident.
“Unfortunately these types of accidents, which are really one-time events, make mining seem like it is still backwards,” said Sergio Almazan, director of the Mexican Mining Chamber in a phone interview from Mexico City. “But it's not true.” |
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