Rescue Operations Resume at El Pinabete Mine

On May 23, the National Civil Protection Coordination initiated rescue efforts to retrieve the six remaining bodies of miners trapped at the El Pinabete mine, Coahuila. While four bodies were identified in April, the remaining six could not be rescued as they were in separate galleries.

Laura Velázquez, Head, National Coordination of Civil Protection, announced that the Ministry of Security and Citizen Protection, in collaboration with CFE, has initiated rescue operations in the west gallery named GWE8. "Personnel entering the mine have undergone training from the Coahuila State Attorney General's Office to collect both biological and non-biological materials for analysis," Civil Protection stated. 

During this phase of the rescue operation, it is anticipated that the bodies of Ramiro Torres Rodríguez, Sergio Gabriel Cruz Gaitan, Jose Rogelio Moreno Leija, Mario Alberto Cabriales Uresti, José Luis Mireles Arguijo, Margarito Rodriguez Palomares, and Ramiro Torres Rodriguez will be located and identified. Given the rainy season, authorities stressed that they have also focused on maintaining surface drainage and continue to pump water from deep wells to facilitate rescue efforts.

What Happened at the El Pinabete Coal Mine?

On Aug. 3, 2022, 15 miners were working at a depth of 60m when the walls of the tunnels collapsed, flooding the three pits at El Pinabete in Sabinas, Coahuila. Since then, authorities have been trying to rescue the miners. At the time of the accident, five of the 15 mine workers managed to escape. 

Since then, relatives of the victims have complained about the lack of transparency and the lack of progress in the authorities’ efforts. The government, however, explained that it was not possible to rescue the bodies earlier due to the flooding of the mine. In April, the Prosecutor's Office conclusively identified four bodies: Hugo Tijerina Amaya, Jorge Luis Martínez Valdez, Jaime Montelongo Pérez, and José Rogelio Moreno Morales. The miners' remains were discovered during separate rescue operations: the first two on Nov. 11, the third on Dec. 29, and the fourth on Jan. 16, 2024.