Mexican (Washington Insider Magazine)-10 men have been reported trapped in a national coal mine, the cause of which is still unknown. Mexican officials are currently blaming the unsafe Mexican mining policies and unrealistic working expectations of those in the mining industry, leading to safety issues, increased risk, and death in some cases.
President Andrés Obrador Is coming under fire for his economic stimulus plan of providing income to those in lower socioeconomic brackets. His solution was to revamp the nation’s older coal-based power sources throughout the Northern region, which launched a new need for coal and other natural fuel resources that must be mined from the country’s ancient mines.
Mexicans in need of financial support would be the first ones to sign up to mine for the power plants, putting their very lives at risk to help their families survive amid the economic instability in the region.
This form of mining and resource harvesting had been nearly banned by Mexico’s Congressional Committee years ago, due to the fact that it’s far more dangerous than traditional methods.
Miners report unsavory and near-impossible working conditions, with shoulder-width shafts and single-bucket transport systems – meaning that a single mining expedition may take weeks or months to complete. There is currently no nationwide security system or ordinance in place to protect the safety of Mexico’s miners. Mexican mining policies have not currently been revised at the time of this article.
After these deaths, many citizens are pleading with governmental officials to make an official ruling body to support worker safety, similar to how OSHA functions in the United States.
Many families remain devastated in the wake of the most recent mining deaths.
10 men were killed in a Coahuila mine near Eagle Pass, Texas on the side of the Mexican border. Water burst form a neighboring abandoned mine, flooding the shafts with old wastewater and mud. It completely filled the shaft floor to ceiling, shattering wooden supports and bringing walls down with it. Only five were rescued from the initial 15.
